


Neighbors

by benevolentfairymagic



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Anal Sex, Angst, Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M, Oral Sex, Pining, side Sophiam - Freeform, side larry - Freeform, ziall
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-02
Updated: 2015-07-02
Packaged: 2018-03-20 22:11:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 31,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3667107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/benevolentfairymagic/pseuds/benevolentfairymagic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Author and illustrator Zayn Malik and his four year old daughter Farrah move in next door to aspiring musician Niall Horan, and his roommates Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson who are too busy pining over one another to realize they're in love. Niall likes Zayn, Farah likes Niall, and Zayn likes to repress his feelings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zayn's POV

"Baba! Baba there is swings!" Farah Malik exclaimed, tugging on Zayn's hand, tight curls bouncing as she skipped excitedly towards the small neighborhood playground. "I can see that Beti," Zayn replied, chuckling at his daughter's enthusiasm. "Can I go on the swings?" She asked, stopping to look up at him with wide eyes. "Please baba, pleaaaaase?"  
"Hmm, I suppose that can be arranged" he answered, scooping her into his arms and spinning her around once, she giggled and kicked her legs out. "Swings!" She demanded, and he set her down, chasing after her as she ran towards them.

Zayn had been a senior in college when he and his girlfriend had found out they were going to be parents, and just graduated with a degree in English before Farah was born. His girlfriend, Akilah, had been a junior and with his help and the help of their families, managed to graduate a year later with a degree in psychology. Somehow, Akilah had managed to get a job straight out of school, and Zayn stayed at home with Farah, working on writing and illustrating a series of children's books. And they were happy.

Zayn spent his week days entertaining Farah, writing while she napped, and cooking dinner for the three of them. When Akilah got home, they'd eat and Zayn would write while Akilah gave Farah a bath. Then the two of them would put Farah to bed and have the rest of the evening to themselves. On the weekends they alternated spending time with each of their families. It had been more than Zayn had ever expected out of life, and it had been short lived.

It was a Thursday when Zayn had gotten the call, shortly after Farah's second birthday. He was pushing matchbox cars around a mat with Farah when his phone rang, and he answered without checking the caller ID. When the voice on the other end introduced themselves as being from the local hospital, his heart had stopped. There had been an accident, Akilah was gone. He dropped the matchbox car he was holding. "I'm sorry, Mr. Malik," they had said. I'm sorry. A phrase that was repeated to him over and over in the days following Akilah's death. A phrase that was still awkwardly uttered every time he had to tell someone about his dead girlfriend, or Farah's dead mother. It was a phrase Zayn hated hearing.

Two years later, and Zayn had made the decision to pack up and move himself and Farah from their two bedroom apartment in the city to a three bedroom, two bathroom house in the suburbs. A nice neighborhood with a decent school system and plenty of space for an ever energetic Farah to run and play. He and his best friend Liam had spent the past two days moving all of their belongings, while Liam's girlfriend Sophia watched Farah. Today Farah had patiently helped Zayn set up her bedroom, and as a treat, Zayn had given her some ice cream before the two of them walked the block and a half to the park. It was June and even at 5pm, the sun was still bright and high in the sky.

After an hour and a half of pushing a giggling Farah on the swings, catching her at the end of slides, and holding her up so she could tackle the monkey bars, the two of them joined hands and left the park to head back home.  
"Want me to read to you before bed?" Zayn asked, looking down at the little girl who was dragging her feet a bit, clearly tired from the days' activities. 

"Harry Potter?" she questioned, followed by a small yawn. 

"If that's what you want, then Harry Potter it is," he answered, bending a bit to pick her up. Ever since Farah had learned to walk, she had been very determined to get places on her own, but she still let him carry her from time to time if she was tired enough. She made herself comfortable in his arms and laid her head on his shoulder.

"Baba?"

"Yes, love?"

"Can we go to the park tomorrow?"

"We'll see, I have to finish setting up the rest of the house. Maybe we can get Uncle Liam to come play with you while I work, how does that sound?"

"And Aunt Sophia? Aunt Sophia promised she'd see me really really soon. Tomorrow is really really soon, right?"

"That's right, tomorrow is really really soon. I'll call them up and see if they're free, how does that sound?"

"Sounds good." she said, letting out another small yawn, and patting his cheek with her small hand. 

As they neared their driveway, Zayn watched as a blue car pulled up to the house next to his, he had yet to meet any of his neighbors, and he observed curiously as the driver exited the car. The man was about Zayn's height with tufts of bleach blonde hair that poked out of the sides of a snapback he was wearing backwards on his head. He was slim, in a white tank top and black shorts. After pulling some plastic shopping bags from the back seat, the man turned around and caught Zayn looking. Zayn blinked awkwardly, but the man seemed unphased. 

"Hey! You must be the new neighbors?" he asked, smiling easily. 

"Uh... yeah. That's us." Zayn said, shifting Farah in his arms as Niall set down his shopping bags and crossed the small stretch of yard to stand in front of them, hand outstretched. 

"I'm Niall, Niall Horan." the man said, smile still lighting up his face. Up close Zayn could see the man, Niall, had bright blue eyes that shone to match his smile.

"Zayn Malik," Zayn answered, shaking Niall's hand in his own, taking note of the way the other's calloused fingers felt sliding out of his grasp. "And this is Farah." 

"Hi." Farah said shyly, peeking out at Niall from against Zayn's neck. 

"Hello Farah, it's nice to meet you. And you." he added, looking back at Zayn. And Zayn would have had to be completely oblivious not to notice the way Niall's eyes swept over his body, before once again making eye contact, pink tongue darting out to lick over his bottom lip. He could feel his cheeks heating up as Niall continued to speak. "I guess I'll let you two head inside, I'll see you around then, yeah?"

"Yeah, right... see you," Zayn replied a bit stupidly, and with a wave Niall made his way back to his own house. 

He carried Farah inside, shutting and locking the door behind him. So, he had an incredibly friendly, incredibly attractive neighbor. That was fine. He could handle that. Right?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Niall's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo, it's been years since I've written fan fiction. I hope it's not awful. I hope you enjoy it. Feel free to leave comments!

"Haz! You home? Niall called out, shouldering the front door closed, groceries in hand. "Haz!"

"Right here, Nialler," Harry shouted back, descending the steps. "What's up-- groceries! I haven't eaten since this morning." He came to a stop in front of Niall, peeking in one of the plastic bags he was holding before taking it, and pulling out a bag of barbeque chips. 

"You do know that you and Lou are just as able to buy groceries as I am, right?" he asked, carrying the remainder of the bags into the kitchen and setting them on the counter, Harry following behind munching on the barbeque chips. 

"Yeah, but you're just so good at it Ni," he said, smiling faux sweetly, dimple popping out on his cheek. 

"Uh huh. So great. When I do the shopping we end up with microwave meals and cookies. When you do the shopping we get real food and home cooked meals." 

Niall watched as Harry began putting the food away in the cupboards. "You're right, you didn't even buy fruit." he said, nose wrinkled in distaste. 

"Bought some canned corn, I think," Niall replied. 

"What'd you buy canned corn for? You gonna eat corn with your microwave dinner?"

"Maybe."

"You're not."

"No, probably not. Too lazy. I met the new neighbors, by the way."

"You did?" Harry asked excitedly, turning to give Niall his full attention. "Which ones were they? Was it the muscular one and the woman? The pretty one? The muscular one and the pretty one?" 

"Nah, it was the pretty one and the kid." 

"Huh, the kid belongs to the pretty one?"

"Seems like it. Her name's Farah, the pretty one is Zayn and he's even prettier up close" he admitted, thinking of the sharp curve of Zayn's cheek bones, and the different browns swirled in his eyes. 

"Niall!" Harry exclaimed , raising his eyebrows ever so slightly. 

"Yes Haz?"

"Niall, you've got a crush."

"I do not," Niall said, rolling his eyes. "I barely said ten words to him, just introduced myself and let 'em go inside." Was Zayn attractive? Yes. Would Niall love to get him in bed? Yes. But that did not mean Niall had a crush. That meant that Niall knew what he wanted to do with an attractive man when he saw one. 

"Niall's got a crush!" Harry sang, twirling around the kitchen. 

"What's that about a crush?" Louis questioned, voice drifting in from the entry way. 

"Niall's going to marry the neighbor!" Harry yelled, nearly twirling into Louis as he came into the kitchen. 

Louis reached out an arm to steady a suddenly unbalanced Harry and looked at Niall. "Will it be a summer wedding, then? Or fall? We can put an arch in the backyard, Harry can officiate, we'll get him certified online." 

"Nobody is marrying the neighbor. Maybe the neighbor's already married, he has a kid. What if you two are trying to marry me off to a married man?" 

"Which one is he then?" Louis asked. "Muscles or model?"

"Model." Harry answered for him. "Niall said he's prettier up close, didn't you Ni?" 

Niall groaned, he had the worst friends. "Ugh, I hate you both. Don't know why I live with you two losers." 

"Because you love us and you wouldn't know what to do without us?" Harry tried.

"We're your incredibly attractive, incredibly charming, incredibly intelligent best friends?" Louis added.

Niall watched in amusement as Harry turned his full attention towards the other man, small frown on his face. "You think I'm attractive?" he asked a very nervous looking Louis. 

"Uhhh..." Louis stammered, "Yes? I mean we're all attractive men, right Niall?" he got out, shooting a pleading look in Niall's direction. Niall chuckled and patted Louis on the shoulder on his way out of the room. "Yes Lou, very attractive." he answered, leaving the other two in the kitchen to head up to his bedroom. Harry with a thoughtful look on his face, Louis looking like he wished the kitchen floor would open up and swallow him whole.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's a bit longer than the last. Hope you like it, enjoy!

Zayn awoke the next morning to the buzzing of his alarm, and felt a brief moment of regret for asking Liam and Sophia to come over so early. He had called Liam last night after Farah had went to bed and asked them to come over to help set up the rest of the house. Boxes and odd pieces of furniture still cluttered the downstairs, some needed to be put away, others needed to be built. The only rooms in the house Zayn had really gotten to were the bathrooms, seeing as they were the easiest, and Farah's room since it seemed important to get her settled in right away. The first night in the house she had flat out refused to sleep in her new room all together, and the second night she had woken up   
yelling out for Zayn, demanding that he check the closet for monsters. Last night though, after getting her room set up yesterday, she hadn't woken up once. Surrounding her with familiar belongings seemed to have done the trick. He sat up and ran a hand through his tousled hair, stretching before he got up, gathered some clothes and headed down the hall to the bathroom. He showered quickly, took a few minutes to dry his hair and put a bit of gel in it, and went into Farah's room to wake her up. 

He pushed her bedroom door open and entered, she seemed to be sleeping still so he took a seat on the edge of her bed. She was curled up in a ball, tiny fist pressed against her mouth. Zayn had managed to get her to stop sucking her thumb about a year ago, but more often than not when she slept, it was with a hand to her mouth. Gently, he smoothed a hand over her hair and began rubbing her back. 

"Beti," he murmured softly. "Beti, it's time to wake up, love." 

Farah rolled over onto her back, and Zayn patted her belly. 

"Baba?" she whispered, peering up at him from out of dark eyes, heavily lidded with sleep.   
"Uncle Liam and aunt Sophia will be here soon, would you like to pick out an outfit and get dressed while I start breakfast?" 

"Mhmm," she nodded, still not entirely awake, Zayn smiled, he knew she was about as easy to wake up in the morning as he was. 

"Okay, you first, I don't want you falling back to sleep."

She grumbled before sitting up and rubbing at her eyes. Zayn pulled her into his lap, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Love you Baba," she said, kissing his cheek. And Zayn loved her so much. It was small, quiet moments like this that he found himself missing Akilah the most. Small quiet moments that he thought should have been shared between the three of them, instead of just him and Farah. Small quiet moments that he was filled with so much love for his daughter that he sometimes found it hard to breathe. This little human was the reason he got out of bed in the morning, the reason he did anything really. She was who he lived for. 

Collecting himself, Zayn stood up and set Farah on the floor. "Get dressed Farah Hanan," he said, bending to kiss her forehead. "I'll go start the pancakes." 

Ten minutes later Zayn was halfway through making the pancakes and Farah came down stairs in a Hulk t-shirt, bright pink skirt and rainbow striped leggings. "Great choice, Beti," he said, gesturing towards her outfit with a spatula just as the door bell rang. 

"Uncle Liam!" Farah shouted, running to get the door. 

"Look out the window first!" Zayn called after his daughter. "Make sure it's Uncle Liam before you open the door!"

"I know Baba," she replied matter-of-factly. "Don't open the door for strangers."

"That's right," Zayn said, stacking pancakes on a plate. He could hear Liam's voice mingling with Farah's giggles as Zayn finished setting the table. He looked up from setting out the silverware as Liam came into the room carrying a shrieking Farah under his arm, followed by Sophia who was smiling fondly at the scene before her. 

"Put me dooown Uncle Lee-yum" Farah giggled, kicking her legs. "Put me doooown."

"Hey Zee," Sophia said, crossing the kitchen to place a chaste kiss on Zayn's cheek before taking a seat at the table. 

"Hey Sophia," Zayn smiled, taking a seat next to her and scooping two pancakes on his plate, and two onto Farrah's. "Pancakes?"

"Yes please," she said thankfully, accepting the plate from him. "Liam wouldn't get out of bed, so we didn't have time to stop for breakfast." she commented before taking a big bite of pancake. 

"Hey! I've been awake for three hours, you were the one who wouldn't get out of bed." Liam said, looking affronted as he sat Farah down in her chair. 

Sophia shrugged and smiled innocently. "Semantics."

When everyone was done eating, Zayn and Liam collected the dishes and Sophia took Farah upstairs to do her hair. "Met the neighbor yesterday," Zayn said, taking a dish from Liam who was washing, and drying it off. "Think he checked me out."

"Your neighbor checked you out? Is he cute?"

Zayn looked at Liam, amused. "Did you just ask if my neighbor is cute?"

"Yes?"

"Alright, what's your angle Payne?"

"...angle?"

"Uh huh, why are you asking me if my neighbor's cute? I don't think you've ever asked me if someone was cute in the ten years we've known each other." 

Liam handed Zayn the last dish to be dried, and leaned against the counter, arms crossed across his chest. "I haven't heard you mention someone checking you out since Akilah... just seemed like something I should ask." he shrugged. "You're allowed to think he's cute, Zayn." 

Zayn tensed, he knew this would happen eventually. Knew his friends would start wondering when he was going to move on. Knew they'd find every chance they could to encourage it. But this was Liam, sweet, well meaning Liam who had been Zayn's friend for the past ten years, and he wasn't looking to start a fight. He took a beat too long to compose himself before replying. "Sure. But he's not. Cute, I mean. He's not cute." That was a lie. Niall was definitely cute. With his slight frame, bright blue eyes, and easy smile. Very cute. But Liam didn't have to know that. That could be a thought Zayn kept to himself. 

"Okay," Liam said, bumping his shoulder against Zayn's. "Let's go empty some boxes or whatever. For two people, you and Farah sure do have a lot of belongings." 

"How dare you, Liam. Farah and I have a perfectly average amount of belongings."

"Says the man with four desks."   
"I'm an author! I need writing surfaces." 

Liam laughed and shook his head. "Whatever you say, Zee, now let's get going." And just like that the mood had changed. Liam had always been good at that. Breeching a topic he felt Zayn needed to face, changing the subject when he sensed Zayn was uncomfortable. And then waiting patiently for Zayn to bring it back up when it got to be too much for him to keep inside. Liam had been the rock he had leaned on after Akilah's death. He had stayed at Zayn's apartment for four weeks to take care of Farah when he refused to get out of bed but wouldn't let his mother take her from his sight. He was probably a better friend than Zayn deserved. 

The rest of the day was filled with Zayn and Liam working on the house while Sophia kept Farah busy. When Liam had first started dating Sophia, Farah had taken to her immediately and Zayn was thankful that she seemed to be sticking around. She was good with Farah, and made Liam happier than Zayn had ever seen him. They were just finishing up building an end table to sit next to the sofa when Sophia and Farah came into the living room. 

"Baba, are you finished yet?" Farah asked, crawling up onto the sofa, Sophia taking a seat next to her. 

"Actually, yes." he answered, standing up to take a look around. There were still a few odds and ends that needed to be put somewhere, but they could be done some other time. Zayn was more than ready to call it quits for the day. 

"Looks good," Sophia said, looking around the room. And then directed at Farah, "Want to tell them what we've made for them?" 

Farah scrambled up onto her knees excitedly and leaned her elbows on the arm of the sofa to face Zayn and Liam who were still standing near the end table they had just finished building. "We made you lemonade!" she exclaimed excitedly. "Aunt Sophia said we can drink it on the porch. Can we drink it on the porch, Baba?" 

"I think that sounds like a great idea," Zayn said, leaning forward to ruffle Farah's hair. "Let's go!" Farah hopped up and took Zayn's hand to lead him out onto the porch, and Liam went to help Sophia with the lemonade. Once they were all outside, the four of them settled on the steps, Farah cuddled into Zayn's side, and Liam with his arm slung around Sophia's shoulders. 

Farah was in the middle of telling Zayn a story about her and Sophia building a block tower for her avenger action figures when a familiar blue car pulled into the driveway next door. Zayn couldn't help but watch as Niall got out of the car and looked in their direction. He lifted his hand in greeting, and Zayn nodded. "Hello Maliks and friends," Niall said, friendly smile gracing his boyish features. 

"Hey Niall," Zayn said, face heating up. He could almost feel Liam looking back and forth between the two of them. And then to be polite, "These are my friends, Liam and Sophia." He was crossing the yard as Zayn spoke, stopping to lean against the porch railing near Liam and Sophia. 

"Nice to meet you," he said. "I'm Niall, the neighbor." They both greeted him, and to Zayn's surprise, Farah addressed Niall. Normally she was pretty quiet around people she didn't know, and it usually took her a while to warm up to new people. 

"I like your hat," she said. "It's my favorite color." She was referring to the snapback he was wearing, teal this time. 

"Thank you very much, miss Farah," his smile grew and he took the snapback off, running a hand through his mussed hair. Zayn cursed himself when a vague thought of running his own hand through Niall's hair crossed his mind. "How about this," he said. "I let you borrow my hat for today, and then the next time you see me you can give it back. Does that sound okay?" Zayn watched as Farah's eyes lit up and she nodded fervently. 

"Yes please! I would like that very much." Niall adjusted the snapback so it was on the smallest setting and then mounted the first step of the porch, leaned over and placed the snapback on Farah's head. Who was this man and why was the act of a borrowed snapback melting Zayn's heart?

Farah pushed the hat up so she could see, and thanked Niall before going back to slurping at her lemonade. 

"So..." Niall started, "I'm-- we're having a bit of a barbeque tomorrow, me and my roommates. Was wondering if you'd like to join? He was looking directly at Zayn but he added, "all four of you are invited, of course." 

"Sounds great," Liam answered. "We'll be there, got nothing else going on. What time?" Zayn hated Liam, he mentally took back every nice thing he'd ever thought about him.

"Great, we'll probably eat around 6:00, you could come over around 5:00. We'll provide the food unless there's something special you want to bring. You in?" the last part was once again directed at Zayn, Niall's blue eyes and hopeful expression drawing him in. 

"Yeah." he answered, "Yeah, we'll be there." 

"Good, I'll see you guys tomorrow then. Bye miss Farah, keep my hat safe." 

"I will." she said very seriously, tapping the bill with one of her pointer fingers. He nodded just as serious, before smiling once again and heading back in the direction of his house. 

When Zayn looked back at Liam there was the faintest hint of a smirk playing at his lips. "Not cute, huh?"

Zayn sent him a glare and kicked lightly at his side. "Shut it, Liam." 

Zayn was so, so screwed.


	4. Chapter 4

"Haz!" Niall yelled as soon as he stepped through the front door of their house, "Lou!" He could hear the sound of the television playing in the living room, he headed in the direction of the noise and found the two of them watching Cupcake Wars, Harry sprawled out on the sofa, and Louis curled up in one of the two chairs that sat in the room. "Cupcake Wars, really?" 

"This is excellent television, Niall. That woman just baked squid into her cupcake." Harry said, not looking away from the TV. 

"What's up Nialler?" Louis asked, turning his attention away from the squid cupcakes to look at Niall. 

"We're having a barbeque." 

Louis had a look on his face that suggested he had no interest in doing any such thing. "No we're not."

Harry looked at Niall now, a confused expression on his face. "Since when do we have barbeques?" 

"Uhh... since I panicked and invited the neighbors over for a barbeque?" 

Louis raised his eyebrows, "How did panic lead to barbeque? And why were you panicking?"

"Thought you didn't want to marry him," Harry added, smirking. 

Niall sighed loudly and threw himself into the remaining chair, "I don't! I'm not trying to marry the neighbor, I'm trying to get to know the neighbor. He was just... there and he looked so good. And he said hi! My brain said get to know him better, and my mouth said barbeque."

"Why couldn't your mouth have said coffee? Coffee is easy, coffee is hot water and beans. Barbeque sounds involved. Emergency barbeque for the hot neighbor and his daughter because Niall panicked sounds even more involved." Louis was not amused, Harry on the other hand was cracking up. 

"And their friends, Liam and Sophia. The muscular one and the woman." This caught Harry's attention, he sat up, eyes wide. 

"Ohhh, the muscular one is coming too?" 

Niall slid is eyes over to Louis who seemed suddenly very interested in the squid cupcakes the judges were critiquing, intently not looking at Harry or Niall. He had told Niall months ago about the more than friendly feelings he had been harboring towards Harry, but he'd yet to do anything about it. Except, like, stare fondly at the boy when he wasn't looking, and get incredibly cranky when Harry went out on a date and eat his feelings in the form of chocolate ice cream and cheetos. 

"Pretty sure Liam and Sophia are a thing," Niall said, watching the excited look on Harry's face fall. 

"Won't stop Harry from flirting with him," Louis quipped. 

Harry directed a pout at Louis, "Heyyyy." 

The grumpy look on Louis' face softened immediately, "Just a joke, Haz." Niall was pretty sure Louis couldn't stay annoyed with Harry if he tried. 

"Anyways," Niall said, bringing the attention back to himself. "We're having the barbeque tomorrow at 6:00. They're coming over at 5:00, and I told them we would provide the food." 

"Niall, that sounds like work. I do not want to do work on my day off. Can't we just order a pizza or something?" Grumpy Louis was back, Niall wondered if he could maybe pay Harry to pout at Louis until he became more agreeable. 

"Listen, I'll do the cleaning tonight before I go to bed. All I'm asking you two to do is get up a little earlier than normal to go shopping with me, help me make some food, and be nice to the neighbors for a few hours." 

"I'll help you impress the neighbors, Nialler," Harry said, and the two of them looked at Louis. 

"Fine, fine, I'll help. But Harry's doing most of the cooking, I hate cooking." 

Harry shrugged, "That's okay, I like cooking for you Lou."

"You do?" Louis asked, looking a little taken aback. 

"Yeah, you always seem to really appreciate it, it's nice." Harry said, brushing a lose strand of hair off of his face. An action Niall had noticed, that always seemed to hold Louis' attention. "Anyways, if I'm going to be doing most of the cooking, you should probably repay me, Niall."

"Repay you how?" Niall asked.

"Blow jobs are always nice," was Harry's answer. As soon as he said it, Niall felt his jaw drop, and Louis was looking at Niall like if he even considered sucking Harry's dick, he would end him.

"What-- Harry! I am not giving you a blow job!" he nearly shrieked, half out of shock, and half out of fear for his life. Louis' eyes were still squinted dangerously. 

"What? It's been a while since I've gotten a good blow job, and I've always thought you'd be good at it. It was worth a shot." Harry brushed it off as if it wasn't a big thing, just a blow job between friends. And knowing Harry, that's probably exactly what it would have been to him. Just a blow job between friends. And Niall was good at giving blow jobs, or so he'd been told. But blowing Harry was absolutely out of the question, murder via Louis Tomlinson seemed absolutely terrifying. Blowing Zayn on the other hand... well, that was also currently out of the question, but something Niall was definitely willing to work on. 

"Right. Well now that that's over with, I think I'm gonna head up to bed." Louis said, voice sounding a little strange. "You two have fun doing whatever it is you do when I'm not around. Night." And with that, he left the room. Harry watched him go, a confused look on his face. Niall wanted to go after him, but knew he couldn't because it would look suspicious to Harry. 

"What was that all about?" Harry asked, still staring off into the direction in which Louis had just left. Niall hesitated before replying.

"Don't know, maybe you should ask him." 

"I don't... I don't think so. I don't like it when he's mad at me, he seemed mad." 

"I don't think he's mad at you, Harry," Niall reassured, not wanting to get too involved, but not wanting to leave Harry thinking Louis was angry with him. He was pretty sure if Louis was angry right now, it was with himself. He tended to be the type of person who beat himself up over his own feelings. 

Harry was still looking uncertain. "I think I'm going to go to bed too," he said finally, and left the room after wishing Niall a good night. Niall sighed, shopping with the two of them tomorrow was going to be unbearable. At least he had the promise of seeing Zayn to keep him going.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zayn's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a long chapter, because I was excited to get to the part where Zayn and Niall actually interact. Hope you enjoy it, have fun reading!

It was 5:00pm on the dot, and Zayn was standing behind Liam and Sophia on Niall's front porch, holding Farah's hand. Liam had just rung the bell, and Zayn was pulling self consciously at the hem of his plain black v-neck t-shirt. Having had no idea what to wear to a barbeque at his cute next door neighbors house, he had gone with simple and hoped it wouldn't seem too casual. Now as he stood on the front porch with Liam who was in a pair of baggy jean shorts with an equally baggy white t-shirt, and backwards black snapback, and Sophia in a pair of short jean shorts and a brown tank top, he wondered if he looked too dressed up in his nice black t-shirt and well fitted jeans. Even Farah had dressed herself casually this morning, wearing a pair of bright pink shorts with a light blue t-shirt that had a screen printed elephant on the front, and the teal snap back Niall had leant her which she was now wearing backwards on her head like Liam. Just as Zayn was wondering if it was too late to run back home and change into something else, the front door opened revealing a tall, curly haired man with enough tattoos to rival the amount Zayn had littering his body, wearing a black shorts, a grey t-shirt, and a blue plaid apron. 

"Hello," he said, looking around at the four of them. "I'm Harry." And then, "Liam and Sophia?" he asked, smiling wide, cheek dimpling. 

"That's us," Liam answered, reaching out to shake Harry's hand. "And you must be one of the roommates Niall mentioned." 

"That's me, and Louis' outback watching over the grill. I think Niall's still upstairs changing his shirt, had a bit of a mishap with the jello." Harry stepped back to let Liam and Sophia in, and then addressed Zayn and Farah. "Hmm, and you're Zayn and Farah." He stated, serious look on is face, gesturing first at Farah, then at Zayn. Farah covered her mouth with the hand Zayn wasn't holding and let out a quiet giggle. She shook her head, curls bouncing. 

"I'm Farah," she said, shyly looking up at Harry. "My Baba is Zayn." 

"Are you sure? You kinda look like a Zayn."

Farah nodded before looking at Zayn. "Tell him Baba! I'm Farah Hanan Malik." 

"That's right, Beti" he said, giving her hand a squeeze, and then to Harry. "I'm Zayn." And he shook Harry's hand, already completely charmed by him. He could tell Harry was someone who would be easy to get along with, and it helped that he seemed to be good with kids. 

"I know," he said. And then added with a mischievous smile, "Niall was right, you are prettier up close." Zayn opened his mouth, but before he could even think of a reply, Harry was leading them to the kitchen, engaged in a conversation with Liam about the appropriate amount of dressing to use in pasta salad. Farah tugged on Zayn's hand, and led the two of them after the other three. 

The house wasn't what he had expected a house with three young men living in it would look like. It was rather clean, and most of the furniture was even matching. They had a decent amount of kitchen appliances, and the spoon Harry was using to mix up the pasta salad matched the bowl. There were pictures attached to the refrigerator, a few of Niall, Harry, and another man Zayn assumed was Louis, one of Harry and two women that he assumed must be related because all three had the same smile, and one of the other man surrounded by a bunch of little girls. The only picture of Niall without the other two was of him on stage at what looked like it might be an open mic night, guitar on his lap, and eyes closed. He was just about to take a step closer to the fridge to get a closer look, when Niall himself walked into the room. 

"Hey everybody," he said, "Glad you guys could make it." 

Farah dropped Zayn's hand, and waved at the blonde man standing in front of them. "Hi Niall, I kept your hat safe!" 

"You did a great job, Miss Farah," he said smiling, "I'm so glad I've found someone to share my hats with, I tried sharing my hat with Harry once and he lost it. Can you believe that?" 

"Oh my God, Niall." Harry groaned. "Are you really going to bring that up again. It's just a hat! And I said I was sorry and I bought you another one to replace it!" 

"Wasn't just a hat, Haz, it was my favorite hat. Farah understands, don't you?" 

Zayn watched as Farah nodded seriously and because he knew his daughter, he knew what was coming before she said it. He knew she was about to tell Niall that Zayn had lost her favorite bear. And yeah, Zayn had lost the bear, and he had felt terrible about it, but he kind of agreed with Harry's "It's just a hat!" sentiment. It was just a bear. And Zayn had bought her three bears in it's place to make up for it. But she had never quite forgotten the bear he had lost. And sure enough, "Baba lost my favorite bear. He bought me new ones but I liked my old one better." The fact that she still sounded a little sad about it, even though it had been months that it had happened, had Zayn feeling a twinge of leftover guilt for accidentally leaving the bear in a shopping cart at the grocery store. 

"See Harry, it's not the same." Niall said, flicking Harry on the arm. 

"Yes Niall, I'm sorry I can't sympathize with you as well as Farah can. Also, you should probably go check on Lou, make sure he hasn't managed to mess up the food on the grill." 

"Wanna come meet Louis?" Niall asked, turning to Zayn. It had been the first time he had spoken to Zayn since he had entered the kitchen and it caught him off guard, Niall's clear blue eyes meeting his, expression open and carefree. 

"Oh, uh, sure." Zayn answered, mentally kicking himself for letting Niall's mere presence affect him the way it was. The blonde man was wearing a pair of light was jeans, a white t-shirt with a dark blue pocket, and a red snapback. He looked good. Like, really good. There was something about the way the t-shirt stretched over Niall's biceps that made Zayn want to reach out and touch. But he didn't, of course. Instead he followed Niall out onto the back deck, leaving Farah inside, happily helping Harry and Sophia arrange slices of watermelon on a plate. 

Louis turned out to be a man with sharp features, windswept brown hair, and random tattoos scattered over his arms. He was standing in front of the grill, tongs in hand, looking at Niall with an unamused expression on his face. "Niall." 

"Yes, Louis?" 

"You left me out here."

"I did."

"All alone." 

"Yes." 

"With just some barbequed meat to entertain me. For an hour."

"It was like, 45 minutes at the most. I had to help Harry since you refused."

"Yes, well... it's his fault."

"Right. His fault that you won't tell him you're desperately, madly in love with him so things will stop getting awkward every time he mentions a dick that isn't yours." 

"I am not desperately, madly in love with--- wait, has he mentioned my dick?"

"That is so not the point." Niall said, fond tone mixed with fake annoyance. And then he added, to Zayn, "he is, by the way. Desperately, madly in love. Has been for years, poor guy." Zayn tried to imagine being in love with someone for years and never telling them, and couldn't. He wondered why Louis felt the need to keep it to himself for so long. 

"I can hear you, you know. You rude little fucker. I'm standing right here." 

"This is Zayn, by the way." Niall said, ignoring Louis' comment. "And this is Louis." 

"Hey," Zayn said, nodding at Louis. He wasn't sweet and charming like Harry, he was brash and loud, but Zayn liked him instantly. Thought there must be something more to Louis than his outward display of noisy confidence. 

"You were right Niall," Louis said, glint in his eye. "He is prettier up close." And Zayn felt himself smiling quizzically, expression directed at Niall who's pale skin was alight with a bright red blush that crept up his neck and graced his cheeks. 

After a surprisingly delish dinner courtesy of mostly Harry, who turned out to be an excellent chef, Liam and Louis took Farah out into the yard to kick a soccer ball around while Harry and Sophia sat in lawn chairs on the sidelines, cheering them on. This left Zayn alone with Niall on the deck. They had moved from the outdoor table to a small bench which had Niall pressed closer to Zayn than he had anticipated, their knees knocking gently every once in a while. 

"She's great," Niall said, nodding his head towards Farah who was excitedly kicking the ball away from a laughing Louis. 

"Yeah, she is." Zayn agreed. "The greatest." 

"You love her a lot. It like, it radiates from you, ya know?" Niall's expression was sincere, blue eyes honest, lips upturned into a small, genuine smile. Zayn barely knew Niall, but he felt like he could have kissed him in that moment. He thought that was quite possibly one of the most beautiful things anyone had ever said to him. 

"I do." he said instead, trapping his bottom lip between his teeth. "She's my whole world." 

Niall bumped his knee against Zayn's purposely this time. "I like that," he said. "You're a really good father." 

"I try." Zayn said, and he did. He tried so hard to get it right. Tried so hard to make sure Farah was as well loved and cared for as she could possibly be. "You play guitar?" Zayn asked, "I saw the picture of you with a guitar on the refrigerator."

"Yeah, it's uh, kinda my thing. I work at Smooth Beans, the coffee shop in town, Monday morning through Friday morning, and that gives me time at night to write music and play gigs." 

"You write your own songs?" Zayn questioned, impressed.

"Yeah, I do. When I play gigs I mostly do covers because people don't want to hear random songs I wrote, they want to hear stuff they know. But I make sure I always have an original or two on my set." Niall's eyes completely lit up when he talked about music, looking even more blue than they did normally. Zayn kinda liked it. A lot. 

"I write too," Zayn said, "and draw. I have a series of Children's books I write and illustrate." 

"So you're like, published then?"

"Yeah, a few times." Zayn shrugged. "It's what I love doing, so it's great that it worked out for me. And the fact that I can work from home so I can stay home with Farah is fantastic." 

"Zayn, that's so cool. Could I see your books some time?" Zayn was certain that Niall's whole face was shining from admiration, it made Zayn feel shy. 

"Only if I get to hear you play." 

"Yeah, of course. I show you mine, and you show me yours." Niall winked. 

Zayn laughed and shook his head. "You're ridiculous." 

"I think you like it." 

Zayn didn't have time to reply, because a very worn out looking Farah was dragging her feet up the steps to the deck, and climbing into Zayn's lap. "I'm sleepy, Baba," she said, curling up against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, and turned his arm to check his watch. He was surprised to see that it was already nearly 8:30, which was Farah's bed time. 

"I can see that. Would you like to go home and put on your dinosaur pajamas?"

"Yes please, and then you can read me Harry Potter?"

"Of course."

"You can have your hat back now Niall," she said around a yawn, "I kept it safe for you all day." 

"Why don't you keep it." Niall said, reaching out to adjust the hat on Farah's head. "I think it looks much better on you anyways." 

"Really?" she asked, perking up a bit. 

"Really." 

"Thank you so much! I will keep it safe always, I promise." 

"I have no doubt that you will, now why don't you go show off your new hat to your Uncle Liam." She bounced up, but Zayn knew this small burst of energy would be short lived. She'd probably be asleep before he even started reading her Harry Potter, once she got into bed. 

"You trying to get rid of my kid?" Zayn asked, amused. 

Niall shrugged. "Nah, just trying to give you my phone number. If you'd like?" And they exchanged phone numbers while Liam, Sophia, and Farah said their goodbyes to Louis and Harry. Liam had picked Farah up and was heading towards Zayn's house, Sophia following close behind. 

"Thanks for having us over," Zayn said, standing up. Niall followed him up, and stretched his arms above his head, small sliver of pale skin peeking out between his shirt and pants. Zayn really wanted to touch him. 

"Thanks for coming over, I really enjoyed spending time with you Zayn." And before he knew what was happening, Niall had leaned in and pressed a kiss to Zayn's cheek. "Goodnight." he whispered, lips brushing skin. And just as quickly as it had happened, it was over and Niall had moved away towards the door. 

"Good night." Zayn replied, a little dumbstruck. And he walked the short distance from Niall's backyard to his own front door, bringing his hand up to touch the spot on his cheek Niall had kissed. And he swore he could still feel it tingling.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Niall's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to take a second to thank everyone who has started reading this, and has taken the time to leave kudos and comments. I haven't shared my writing with anyone in a really long time and it means a lot. Thank you!

Niall walked through the back door of his house to find both Louis and Harry staring a him, matching grins on their faces. "What?" he asked, trying to appear nonchalant, knowing exactly why it was that they were smiling. Knowing that they had no doubt been watching him and Zayn through the window, knowing they had seen him kiss Zayn's cheek. And, oh god. He had kissed Zayn's cheek. Kissed his cheek and walked away like it was the normal thing to do. Like it was perfectly acceptable to go around kissing people you barely knew and--- okay, maybe it was perfectly acceptable but this felt different to Niall. It felt like something bigger than just getting the pretty neighbor into his bed for a hook up. He had done that before. Planted carefully placed kisses to the necks of men he'd met at a bar or a club, talked with them, danced with them, stroked their thighs until they were dragging him into bathroom stalls, or begging him to take them home. But he didn't feel like he wanted that with Zayn. He felt like he wanted to get to know Zayn, wanted to spend hours talking to him, and several more hours mapping out his body. Sharing himself with Zayn in return. And that was, that was different. Niall wasn't the type of person who opposed relationships, he just hadn't really found anyone he had wanted to be in a relationship with. He had had flings and short relationships that lasted a few months and then faded out. But they were never really very important to him. Sure, he liked and respected the people he had been with, appreciated them for their time, but never really felt like they were particularly meaningful. They were fun, and short-lived, and that was great. But whatever feelings he had towards Zayn, blooming in his chest and his head, it felt big. Much, much bigger than anything Niall had ever felt before. It sort of terrified and excited him in equal parts.

"Niall?" Harry asked, as Louis wrapped an arm around his shoulders and flicked his earlobe. 

Niall batted Louis' hand away, and attempted to wriggle out of his embrace, "Get off me you nuisance, what do you want?" 

"Want to know why you're going around kissing our neighbors, don't we Harry?" Louis replied, tightening his grip on Niall, and pinching his cheek. Once again, Niall tried to push him away, but Louis was stronger than he looked. 

"We do." Harry answered, nodding. He was leaning against the counter, arms crossed across his chest. "Why are you kissing our Neighbors, Ni? Is it just the pretty ones you're kissing, or have you been kissing old Mr. Henderson too?" 

"Ohhh, have you been kissing Mr. Henderson, Niall? I told you I saw him checking out your butt that one day, remember? When we were taking the trash out and he was walking his dog?" Walked right past us and stared at your but the whole time." Louis let up on his attack on Niall's person only to step back and slap his ass. 

"Louis William Tomlinson! if you do not stop touching me, I am going to scoop mayonnaise into your shoes while you sleep. Every. Single. Pair. If you wanna grope someone, try Harry." 

"Yeah!" Harry spoke up, "If you wanna grope someone, grope Harry. Great plan, Nialler." 

Louis spluttered, turning to face Harry, eyes comically wide. "What?" 

Harry shrugged. "Seriously, it's been like, way too long since I've had a good lay."

"I am not going to grope you, Styles." Louis said flatly, and Niall could tell he was struggling to keep his expression neutral. 

"Why not?" Harry pouted, "I'm bored, why won't either of you have a little fun between friends?" 

Louis snorted, and Niall sensed whatever he was about to say was probably going to end up leaving one or both of them more upset than they already were. "Fun between friends Harry, really? You want fun between friends? Why don't you try that guy from the coffee shop you're always going on about, or the one you met at the bar a few months ago that you like to have wild car sex with? I don't want to have a quick go with you, Harry. You--" he broke off. He had started yelling, but his voice was quiet when he said, "you're worth more to me than that." And he stormed out of the room, brushing past Niall on his way past. 

"Lou--" Harry started, moving to go after him, but Niall took his arm.

"Don't, Haz. Let him go." 

"But--" they could hear the sound of Louis taking his keys off the hook before the front door opened and slammed shut. "He left."

Harry was looking little lost, and a lot sad, so Niall took him into the living room and pulled him down onto the sofa for a cuddle. 

"I don't understand what I did," he said, legs curled up underneath him, head resting on Niall's shoulder. "He's just been so weird lately, and I don't know how to fix it. He's my best friend and it's like, half the time things are great and half the time he can't even stand to be in the same room with me. I feel like I'm losing him." 

"You're not losing him, Harry. He's just... he's just Louis. Tomorrow when you're both home, you two should talk. Get everything sorted out."

"I love him."

Niall sat up, jostling Harry, and looked at the curly haired man next to him, not so much shocked as surprised. Surprised it had taken so long for this to happen, and surprised neither of them had said anything to each other yet. Harry and Louis were both usually very open about their emotions. "What?"

"I'm in love with him." 

"You're in love with Louis." 

"Yes-- is that, is that okay?" 

"I think that's great, Harry. Beautiful, even." 

"You do?" He looked skeptical, like he thought maybe Niall was having him on. 

Niall leaned over and hugged Harry around the shoulders, "You and Louis are going to be okay, Harry. Just talk to him, yeah?" 

"Yeah, alright. When he comes home tomorrow I'll talk to him." 

"Good." Niall pulled out of the hug, and sat back to look at Harry, "I think I'm gonna head uptairs, you gonna be alright?" 

He nodded, "Thanks Nialler, you're a great friend. And whatever's going on between you and Zayn, he's lucky to have you in his life." 

Niall smiled at Harry and patted him on the shoulder, "I hope you're right." 

Once he was upstairs, he pulled out his phone and sent a text to Louis "N: u alright?" he only had to wait a few seconds before Louis texted him back. 

L: yah, just needed to get away for a while  
N: where r u?  
L: with mom and the girls... is H okay?  
N: he will be  
L: so he's not  
N: told me he thinks he's losing u  
L: fuck  
N: talk to him  
L: Niall...  
N: srsly lou, you 2 need to get ur shit together  
L: don't know if i can  
N: why  
L: too much at stake, don't wanna get hurt  
N: what if you don't  
L: we'll see. gnight   
N: night

Niall sighed and laid back on his bed, he hoped Louis would actually talk to Harry, he didn't want refereeing nightly fights to become his new thing. And he wasn't sure how much a friendship could take before it broke. He really didn't want to be around to see the aftermath of the end of Harry and Louis' friendship. Looking to get his mind off of it, he opened a new text conversation with Zayn, and stared at the empty box. After careful deliberation he finally typed out "N: had fun tonight, thanks again." When he didn't receive a reply right away, he sat up and pulled out his guitar. It had been a few days since he had last written anything, and his fingers were itching to reconnect with strings. About half an hour later, just as he was pulling out a notebook to start jotting down possible lyrics to go with the melody he had just come up with, his phone vibrated on the bed next to him. 

Z: I had fun too, so did Farah. She was so excited about her day that she told me a bedtime story, and talked herself to sleep.  
N: aww, 2 cute. I really am glad you both had fun, Sophia and Liam seem really great  
Z: They are :) I think Harry and Louis are officially Farah's new best friends.   
N: lou has a bunch of little sisters so he's good with kids. And I think Harry's a child whisperer or something, kids love him  
Z: aha! A child whisperer? Feel like I could use one of those some times. Maybe Harry can explain to Farah the importance of good dental hygiene   
N: haha probably could !   
Z: I'll keep that in mind.   
N: what r u up to?  
Z: Nothing, in bed. You gonna ask me what I'm wearing next?"  
N: Maybe.  
Z: Hope you like sweatpants.   
N: bet they look great on u  
Z: Bet you'd like to find out. ;)  
N: Zayn...  
Z: Niall...  
N: now i wanna see you in sweatpants  
Z: Too bad I already turned the lights off :(  
N: Zayn...  
Z: I should get to bed.   
N: Zaaaaayn...  
Z: Think of me. :)  
N: :(  
Z: Good night, Niall. Have fun ;)  
N: Will do. Good night, Zayn. 

And Niall did have fun, imagining Zayn the whole time.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zayn's POV

Zayn was woken up the next morning by Farah running into his room, and bouncing on his bed. "Baba!" she exclaimed, shaking his him with a small hand. "Baba, I'm hungry! Food please!" Zayn groaned and rolled over, grabbing his phone off the bedside table to check the time. When he pushed the home button, his screen lit up with a text from Niall. "N: thought about u last night ;)" shaking his head, he glanced at the time, 8:30am, and re-locked his phone. Had he really almost sexted Niall? Who was he, even? He couldn't remember the last time he had sexted, probably not since he was a teenager. Farah sighed and flopped down on the bed next to him dramatically. "My belly is growling at me. We need to feed it." 

Zayn laughed and rolled over towards his daughter. "You think so?" he asked, tickling her belly. She squirmed and giggled. "And what should we feed that belly of yours?" 

"Grilled cheese!" she shouted, pumping her little fist in the air. 

"Grilled cheese for breakfast?" he questioned, raising his eyebrows.

"Grilled cheese for breakfast! Grilled cheese for lunch! Grilled cheese for dinner!" She sighed wistfully, "Baba, I love grilled cheese." 

"I can tell." he said, amused. Most of the time she was very mellow, but there were days when her energy seemed endless and she ran circles around him, all loud voices and laughter, making up crazy stories and talking to him about dragons or wizards or superheros. Filled with all sorts of questions. Zayn thought maybe she'd be a writer like himself one day, she was very creative in her own four year old way. "Alright, we can definitely have grilled cheese for lunch. But maybe we should have cereal for breakfast?" 

Farah pouted, eyes wide, bottom lip sticking out. "I want grilled cheese nowwww." 

"I understand that, Beti. But grilled cheese isn't really a breakfast food. I'll make you grilled cheese for lunch AND dinner if you eat cereal for breakfast. Deal?" 

She tapped her chin, face scrunched up in thought. "Can I have orange juice with my grilled cheese?" 

"If that's what you want, sure." Personally Zayn thought that sounded gross, but to each their own. 

"Yaaaaay! You get dressed, Baba. I'm gonna go pick out my cereal." 

"Alright, but no climbing on the chairs to get your bowl down, got it? I'll be down to pour it for you in a few minutes." 

She jumped up and headed out of his room, "No climbing, got it."

He shook his head and chuckled to himself. At just four years old she was more confident and wanted more independence than Zayn had wanted in high school. She definitely had gotten her confidence from Akilah. Even at 26, Zayn still felt awkward and self-conscious at times. He dressed himself in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt before grabbing his phone off the bed where he had left it. At the last second before he headed downstairs, he made a snap decision to text Niall back. "Z: Hope it was good for you ;)" he hesitated to add the winky face, but what the hell he thought, it had been too long since he had flirted with anyone, and it kind of felt exhilarating. It was just flirting though, he told himself, he couldn't let it get to far. Pocketing his phone, he started down the stairs to get Farah and himself breakfast. 

He spent the rest of the day playing games with Farah, working on illustrations for his latest book idea while she watched television, and talking on the phone with his mother who had called to see when she could come see the house. He had chatted with her for a while before handing the phone over to Farah, and writing while the two of them talked. It had been the most productive day Zayn had had since he had begun the process of moving from the apartment to their new house. He had ended up making Farah grilled cheese for both lunch and dinner as promised, and at 8:30 he had put her to bed, half an hour later she was asleep, and he was downstairs in just a pair of sweatpants, eating popcorn, and watching The Avengers on DVD for the hundredth time. Bruce Banner was just getting introduced into the movie when his phone went off in his lap, he checked it and saw that it was Niall.

N: what r u up to?  
Z: Watching The Avengers, you?  
N: sweet ! u can say no if you want, but do u think i could come over? things r weird over here

Zayn stared at his phone, uncertain of what to say. He definitely wanted to see Niall again, but what would allowing him come over imply? If he was just giving him a reprieve from whatever it was that was going on over at his, it wouldn't mean anything, right? Just a friend helping a friend? Before he could talk himself out of it, he sent Niall a reply. "Z: Sure. Come on over." 

Zayn set his bowl of popcorn down on the table, fully intending to put a shirt on, but he only made it to the foot of the stairs before there was a knock on the door. He froze and cursed himself for not thinking of putting a shirt on BEFORE he had answered Niall. Of course it would have only taken Niall a few seconds to get to his house, he lived next door. He turned around and walked to the front door, turning the knob and pulling it open. Niall blinked at him. "Uh, hi." he said, eyes sliding down Zayn's bare chest. Suddenly Zayn felt very, very exposed. He brought a hand up to scratch at the back of his neck nervously. He was standing half naked in front of a man he barely knew whom he had nearly sexted not 24 hours earlier. 

"Hey? I uh... left my shirt upstairs. Wasn't expecting company..." Great going, Zayn. Way to state the obvious, and draw more attention to yourself. Niall looked as if he was trying to hold back a laugh. 

"Uh huh, I can see that." A small grin appeared on his face. "Can't say I mind." 

"Right," Zayn backed up, letting Niall in, "I'll just... I'll just go get a shirt then..." He gestured towards the living room. "You can sit down if you'd like? I'll be right back." He didn't stick around to see if Niall had taken his suggestion to sit down or not, just turned around and headed up stairs to get a shirt. He quickly pulled a plain white t-shirt off a hanger in his closet and made his way back down stairs. When he got back to the living room, he found Niall sitting on his couch, popcorn bowl in his lap, trying to throw a piece of popcorn into his own mouth. He caught the first piece, but the second bounced off his nose and landed on the floor when he noticed Zayn watching him. He smiled guiltily and bent down to pick up the stray piece of popcorn. 

"Hope you don't mind," he said, lifting the bowl of popcorn. 

"Nah, there's enough to share." Zayn answered, taking a seat on the sofa the opposite side from Niall. "So, what's going on at your place? You said it was weird." 

Niall nodded, and then swallowed a mouth full of popcorn before answering. "Yeah, Haz and Louis had a fight last night and Louis left. Then Harry told me he was in love with Louis and I sorta thought that would be the end to all our problems. Like, they're in love with each other so that should fix things, right?" Zayn nodded, turning his body to face Niall better, pulling his feet up onto the sofa. "Well, turns out I was wrong. Louis came home tonight with some guy he had met at a club, Harry took one look at them and left the house without saying a word. Then Louis took the dude upstairs and I felt kinda wrong being in the house with Louis while he banged some guy when I know Harry's in love with him." 

"But I thought Louis was in love with Harry."

"He is! That's why this is all so stupid. Like, they could be happily in love if they would just get over themselves and talk to each other, ya know?" 

"Sounds like it," Zayn agreed. Niall set the bowl of popcorn back onto the coffee table and turned to mirror Zayn's position on the sofa. 

"How was your day?" he asked, picking at hole in the hem of his t-shirt. 

"Oh," the question along with the sincere look of curiosity on Niall's face caught Zayn off guard. "It was good, yeah? I got a lot of work done, haven't really been able to work on my new book since the move."

Niall looked at Zayn with interest. "What's the book about?" 

"It's umm-- I have a series, this is the fourth book. The main character is a t-rex, they all sorta have a life lesson in them. Like, something I think is important but explained simply for children. They're nothing special, really." Despite being a successful published author, Zayn still felt unsure of his abilities, thought maybe his life lesson t-rex books were silly, wondered why anyone bothered taking them seriously.

"They must be pretty successful though, right? For you to be able to stay home with Farah and not have any other job?" And then, "I'm sure they're great," Niall added smiling. 

"Thanks, yeah. They're pretty successful. Which is really great, I love being able to stay home with Farah. Won't know what to do when she goes to kindergarten next year," it was something he had been thinking about a lot lately, but nothing he'd ever said out loud before. He had spent the past four years at home with Farah, knew he had become especially attached after Akilah's death, knew he'd end up having a really hard time sending her off to school next fall. He looked down at his lap. Why had he mentioned it to Niall? He hadn't even said anything to Liam yet. When he looked up again, Niall was studying his face, a soft expression in his blue eyes.

"You've always stayed home with her then?" he asked, prompting Zayn to keep talking.

"Yeah, umm, her mom was still in college when we had her and when she graduated she ended up getting a job right out of school. I had already published my first book by then, and our parents helped us out a lot too. So by the time she got her job there wasn't any need for me to get one, I just decided to keep writing and do the whole stay at home dad thing." Niall nodded, so Zayn kept talking. "And then when her mom died, I thought I might have to get another job, but luckily my second book was published and it did really well, better than the first, and I was able to stay home with Farah and keep writing." When Akilah had first died, Zayn had been nearly unable to talk about her, breaking down every time someone so much had mentioned her name. But over the past year and a half it had gotten better. He knew he'd never stop missing her, but the pain that came with thinking of her was more bearable now, softened by the hands of time. 

Zayn had expected Niall to say something like "I'm sorry" or "That must be rough." Those were the usual things people responded with, but instead he said "Tell me about her, Farah's mom." And it had been so long since Zayn had really talked about her, that he found himself needing to tell Niall what she was like, just to make sure he remembered. Just to make sure her memory lived on.

"Akilah, her name was Akilah. And she was-- she was absolutely brilliant. She was so so, smart, always reading and acing her classes. Beautiful too, dark skin, great hair and a smile that was contagious. Farah looks just like her. She was the type of person who could command the attention of an entire room full of people. She was always so supportive, telling me to keep writing when other people were telling me it wasn't a real career. I used to draw for her, and she'd frame every single drawing and hang them on the wall, it got to be a little ridiculous but she was proud of them, and it got to be sort of a joke between the two of us. Farah wasn't planned, Akilah had been nervous to tell me she was pregnant at first, but the moment she said it, it just felt so right. And she was so excited, we both were. She was an excellent mother, she had so much love to give..." he trailed off then, and Niall scooted closer, knees bumping against Zayn's. 

"You really loved her." Niall said, reaching out and taking one of Zayn's hands. "Your face lights up when you talk about her, same as when you talk about Farah." 

"I did," he said, letting Niall pull his hand into his lap, watching as he traced each one of his fingers. "I still do, probably always will." 

"Of course you always will." They sat like that for a while, knees pressed together, Niall playing with Zayn's fingers. After Akilah they moved onto lighter topics, discussed their favorite movies, and books, although Niall admitted he really didn't like to read much. Niall sang Zayn part of a song he was working on, and told him stories about crazy things he'd gotten into with Harry and Louis, and some of their other friends. Before they knew it, it was 1:30am, and Niall was getting up to leave. "Walk me to the door?" he asked, hold his hand out. Zayn took it, and Niall pulled him to his feet. They walked to the door, hands still attached. Niall stopped in the doorway and turned to look at Zayn. "I'd really like to kiss you now," he said, cheeks turning red. 

Zayn paused, he hadn't kissed anyone since Akilah. People had thought it was weird, it had been two years but he hadn't felt ready. Had told them that if it ever felt right, he'd start dating. He wasn't quite sure if it felt right yet, but sitting on his couch talking to Niall had felt right, holding Niall's hand for hours as they swapped stories had felt right, and he decided that standing in his doorway kissing Niall would feel right. "I'd really like for you to kiss me," Zayn answered, taking a step closer to Niall. And suddenly Niall was crowding into his personal space leaning in, their chests were pressed together and Niall's breath was ghosting over Zayn's lips. 

"I'm going to kiss you now," Niall whispered, and then Niall was kissing him. Surprisingly soft lips pressed against Zayn's. The kiss only lasted a few seconds, their lips melding together briefly before Niall was pulling away, smile on his face. "Goodnight, Zayn" he said, and then he was out the door closing it behind him, leaving Zayn standing there grinning dopily at the closed door. Thinking of nothing else but what it had felt like to have Niall's lips on his own.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Niall's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously thank you so much to everyone who is reading this and leaving kudos and comments, it means a lot to me!

Niall was eating breakfast before his usual morning shift at the coffee shop when Louis came down stairs. He sat down in the chair opposite Niall's and dropped his head onto the table. "Don't look at me" he said, voice muffled. "I deserve to be shunned for the rest of eternity." 

"The rest of eternity? Really, Lou?" He took a bite of his cereal and watched the miserable looking Louis in front of him, he was still sitting with his forehead pressed against the table.

"Yes, Niall. The rest of eternity. Did you see the look on Harry's face when he left last night? Fuck, I'm so stupid. I didn't realize..." he trailed off, raising his head to look at Niall. 

"Didn't realize?"

"Didn't realize he-- I didn't realize he, I dunno, he... cared? I don't know!" Louis threw his hands up in the air and sighed dramatically, tipping his head back to stare up at the ceiling. "Niall, I really fucked up." 

Niall snorted. Louis had fucked up, yeah. But probably not to the level he was imaging. "You did. When I told you to talk to him, I thought you'd come home and talk to him. Not come home with some random guy and flaunt him in Harry's face. He's upset now, but I'm pretty sure he'll forgive you. And then you two can live happily ever after and ride off into the sunset or whatever."

"Niall..."

"Louis."

"Niall, I think Harry likes me." 

Niall stood up from the table to put his bowl in the sink. He needed a minute. Or five. His friends were the worst. He loved them, but they were the worst. "I honestly hate both of you." he said, turning around to stare pointedly at Louis. "You've been dancing around each other for ages! It stresses me out, never know when one of you is gonna do something stupid and the other one is gonna mope around for days afterwards... honestly." 

"Well I'm sorry my love life stresses you out so much, Niall. Maybe if you'd get one of your own you wouldn't have to worry about mine. How long has it been since your last relationship? Six, seven months? And it probably only lasted like, three weeks tops, right?" Had it been anyone else, Niall might have been offended, but there was no judgement behind Louis' words, just banter. 

Niall shrugged, lips quirking up into a smile "I kissed Zayn last night." His smile turned into a grin as Louis' eyes went wide.

"What! Niall! You got to kiss the hot neighbor and I was over here fooling around with I-have-a-dick-but-don't-know-how-to-touch-one-Jared from the club? Honestly. It was awful. I thought he was trying to squeeze it off or something." 

"Probably karma for breaking Harry's heart or something," Niall replied snickering at the look of utter distaste on Louis' face. 

"Oh my god, I did, didn't I? I broke Harry's heart... How could I do that? How can I fix it? He's so-- he's just so, so Harry! And he should never be heart broken, ever." And Louis looked so distraught over the idea of a heart broken Harry that Niall had to cross the room to wrap his arms around his friend. 

"It'll be okay, Lou. You'll figure it out. You two are like, meant to be together. I swear."

"Thanks Nialler," Louis said, ruffling Niall's hair, and Niall ducked out of their embrace, bidding him goodbye and heading out the door to go to work. 

Later on his lunch break, he checked his phone and saw that he had two unread texts, one from Harry and one from Zayn. He opened the one from Harry first which was just "H: :(" He sent "N: u ok ?" in return, and opened Zayn's text next. 

Z: Hi. :) :)  
N: hey :)  
Z: I liked last night, I'm glad you came over.   
N: i liked last night too  
Z: You kissed me.  
N: i did   
Z: I'd like for you to kiss me again.  
N: think that can be arranged ;)  
Z: Come over again tonight?  
N: really?  
Z: Yeah, if you want.  
N: okay :)  
Z: Same time?  
N: sounds good. gotta get back to work. see u later :)  
Z: :)

The invitation sort of surprised Niall, he had gotten the feeling that Zayn was a little nervous about the situation, felt like he needed to be careful and take whatever it was they were doing very slowly. And he felt like he was definitely willing to do that if that's what Zayn needed. He had only known Zayn a few days, and he already felt closer to him than most of the people he'd been in relationships with. And he felt ready to let that happen. The closeness, a relationship. He went back to work, thoughts of kissing Zayn again getting him through the rest of his shift. 

When he got out of work, Harry still hadn't texted him back and he was a little concerned. On his way to his car he scrolled through his phone to Harry's contact and pressed send, waiting for Harry to pick up. "Hey Niall." Harry answered, as Niall was buckling his seat belt. 

"Hey Haz, doing alright?" 

"Not really... I mean, I thought-- I thought maybe Louis would have come in yesterday and we would talk and I'd tell him how I feel about him and maybe he'd feel the same way. Like, I had gotten my hopes up, you know? I let myself believe that maybe he really did have feelings for me too. And then he came home with that guy and it was like, the worst feeling. Thinking of Louis being with some random guy... it hurts. I can't help thinking it should be me with him, not anyone else." 

"Are you home?"

"No, I'm at Gemma's, she said I could stay here til I felt like going back." 

"You went to Gemma's? Harry, that's like, two hours away." Gemma was Harry's sister, they were close, but they didn't see each other often. He must have been feeling pretty bad to have driven all the way to Gemma's last night instead of crashing somewhere nearby. Stopping at a read light, Niall sighed. He really really wished Louis and Harry would figure things out between the two of them, he hated knowing his two closest friends were feeling so badly. 

"Yeah, I think I'm going to stay a few days, maybe come home the weekend." And it was only Tuesday, which meant Niall would have to spend the next few days consoling an anxious, upset Louis. 

"Alright, if that's what you need to do. Have you talked to Lou at all?"

"No... he texted a few times and called once. I didn't really feel like talking." Harry sounded sad, Niall kinda hated it. He wanted his friends happy. 

"That's okay, you don't have to talk to him if you don't feel like it. I just got home, so I'm going to go. Call me if you need anything, okay?" 

"Sure Niall, thanks for checking on me." 

"Anytime, I'll talk to later, Haz."

"Bye Niall." 

He looked towards Zayn's house when he got out of his car, thinking it would probably become a habit. Looking to see if Zayn and Farah were around whenever he was outside. They weren't so he continued into his house, Louis was off at work at the smoothie shop in town, and wouldn't be home until late, so he spent the time waiting to go over to Zayn's playing guitar and writing. Just before 9pm, his phone vibrated with a text from Zayn asking if he was coming over, he replied saying he'd see him in a minute, grabbed his keys, locked the door and made the short walk next door. He knocked on the door and Zayn opened it almost instantly. "Hey," Niall said smiling, feeling a flutter of something like excitement low in his abdomen. 

"Hi." Zayn answered, stepping back to let Niall in, and shutting the door behind him. "How was your day?" 

They made their way into the living room, taking seats on opposite ends of the sofa while Niall spoke. "It was okay, work was uneventful, thankfully. Louis and Harry still haven't talked, Harry said he's going to stay at his sister's til the end of the week. Which means Louis' gonna be miserable til the end of the week. He's convinced himself he broke Harry's heart." 

Zayn was watching Niall speak intently, as if there was nothing he'd rather be doing than listening to Niall. He was wearing a pair of black sweat pants slung low on his hips with a white v-neck tshirt, his dark hair which Niall had only ever seen in a perfect quiff was falling down slightly as if he had maybe run his hands through it a few too many times throughout the day. He looked positively cuddly and suddenly Niall wondered why they were sitting so far apart on the sofa. 

"Did he?" Zayn asked, smoothing out a nonexistent wrinkle in the sofa cushion, fingers brushing over the fabric. 

"Kinda, but I think they're gonna be okay. Once they actually talk to each other. They better be okay, don't know what I'd do if they weren't. Hey Zayn?"

"Yeah?" 

"C'mere." 

"What?" 

Niall leaned back against the arm of the sofa, making himself comfortable, opening his arms. Zayn was looking at him uncertainly. "Come cuddle with me," Niall requested, hopeful smile on his face.

"Okay..." Zayn scooted across the sofa until his body was in Niall's personal space before awkwardly leaning into him. Niall chuckled and Zayn let out a small self deprecating whine. "It's been a while, okay. I'm just-- not used to like, touching." 

"Hey, it's okay." Niall said, "we don't have to cuddle if you don't want. But if you want, you can relax and let me cuddle you. I've been told I'm a great cuddler." 

Zayn's body which had been tense went slack against Niall so he wrapped his arms around Zayn's waist, pulling him close so he was curled up against his side. He left one arm around his waist and took Zayn's hand in the other. Zayn laid his head on Niall's shoulder, and Niall turned his head to place a kiss on the top of Zayn's head. 

"This is better," Niall said, slipping the hand of his arm that was around Zayn's waist under his shirt to trace patterns on the warm, bare skin of his side. 

Zayn shivered at his touch. "Yes it is," Zayn agreed, nuzzling his face into Niall's shoulder. "Thanks for like, not thinking I'm totally weird for being awkward about touching. It's just-- it's been a long time. Like, I haven't really... I haven't really been with anyone since Akilah and it's-- god I feel like an inexperienced teenager or something."

"Really?" Niall asked, a little surprised. "I knew you hadn't dated, but you haven't been with anyone at all? No hook-ups or anything?" 

"No, at first it wasn't something I really thought about, you know? And then I just... didn't. I had thought about hooking up with people before, but I knew that's not what I wanted. Liam and some of our friends had tried introducing me to a few people but I was never really into any of them, and if I was they weren't really into the fact I had a kid, so nothing ever came of any of them." 

"So when I kissed you last night... that was your first kiss in two years?"

"Yeah," Zayn said, pressing his face into Niall's shoulder. "Kinda embarrassing." 

"Kinda cute," Niall said, pinching his side. Zayn let out a squeak and Niall laughed softly. "Really cute." 

"Hey, I'm not cute. I'm ruggedly handsome." 

"Nah, definitely cute. And sexy." Niall added, sliding a finger under the waistband of Zayn's sweatpants. 

"Niall..."

"Yes?" Niall asked innocently, sliding a second finger under Zayn's waistband. 

"Are you trying to seduce me?" 

"Is it working?" He now had his entire hand tucked into the waistband of Zayn's sweatpants, fingertips brushing over the fabric of what felt like boxer briefs. In the form of an answer, Zayn kissed along Niall's jaw before pressing their lips together. Niall sat up and pulled Zayn into his lap, Zayn's legs straddling Niall's. He pressed their foreheads together, and brought a hand up to rest on Zayn's neck, thumb stroking over his jawline. "Tell me what you want, Zayn." 

"Can we just kiss? I just want to kiss. For now. If that's okay?" Zayn's arms were wrapped around Niall's shoulders, brown eyes locked on blue. 

"Of course," Niall said, pecking Zayn's lips, lightly first before recapturing them with his own. And so they kissed. They kissed until they were both panting and hard, and Zayn had to climb off of Niall's lap and sit next to him so they could cool off. They sat their on the sofa next to each other, hands linked, giggling until Niall had decided he had collected himself enough to head back to his own house. Once again Zayn walked him to the door and they stopped in the doorway.

Zayn reached out and pulled Niall towards him before wrapping his arms around Niall's neck, pressing their bodies together. "Thank you," he said, as Niall wrapped his arms around his waist. "Thank you for letting me take things slow." 

"You don't have to thank me, Zayn. We'll move as slow as you want. I'm not going to force you into doing something you're not ready for." And Zayn kissed him again, softly. Niall kissed back and then turned to leave. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Zayn said, smiling. 

And Niall made his way across their yards to his house, feeling like he was floating the whole way home.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zayn's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of the nice comments you guys left had me wanting to leave this here for you all before I had to head to work. Hope you like it!

Liam stopped by the next day after he had gotten off work, and together he and Zayn took Farah to the park. She had insisted on wearing the teal snap back Niall had given her, and once they had gotten to the park Zayn snapped a picture of her in it, grinning face, hat too big for her head, and sent it to Niall who replied almost instantly. Liam was pushing Farah on the swings who was demanding to be pushed higher, so Zayn leaned his back against one of the poles and replied.

N: aww !  
Z: She loves that thing.  
N: i should get her kid sized one haha  
Z: you don't have to get her anything  
N: hush, it'll be for her safety so she can see

"Who are you texting?" Liam asked, continuing to push Farah on the swings who was now saying "weeee!" every time Liam pushed her. "You've got this goofy smile on your face."

"I do not," Zayn said, forcing his features into a neutral expression when he realized he had in fact been smiling.

Liam raised his eyebrows, "uh huh, who are you texting?"

"Nobody."

"Zayn."

"Liam."

"C'mooooon, I wanna know."

"Niall."

Liam's face lit up, "You like him!"

Zayn did, a lot, and he found it kinda terrifying. "We're friends."

"Oh my god, you're not!" Liam looked absolutely giddy now, distractedly leaving Farah to propel the swing herself.

"What?" Zayn could kinda feel a matching giddy feeling coming over him but he tried his best to control it.

"You're lying! I've known you ten years, I can tell when you're lying. You are not just friends with him! Zayn, what have you done?"

"Later, Liam" he said, tilting his head towards Farah who was now off the swing and walking over towards him.

"Are you talking to Niall, Baba?" She asked, pushing the snap back off her forehead so she could look up at him.

"I am," he answered, taking her hand and heading towards the slides, Liam following behind them.

"Can you tell him I said hi?"

"I can do that," he said, pulling his phone out of his pocket. He quickly typed out "Z: Farah says hi. :)" before pocketing his phone and focusing his attention on spending time with Farah and Liam.

On the walk back home, Liam carried a tired Farah, and Zayn checked his phone.

N: tell her I say hi back :)  
N: u can say no but, i was wondering if i could take u two 2 the zoo on Saturday?

Zayn bit down on the smile that was threatening to spread across his face, and looked over at Liam and Farah.

"Farah, love?"

"Yes baba? She asked, peeking out at him from Liam's shoulder. Liam was bigger than Zayn, and he always thought Farah looked so tiny in his arms.

"Niall wants to take us to the zoo on Saturday, would you like to go?" Silently he hoped she'd say yes, because he wouldn't go if she didn't want to, and he kind of really wanted to go.

"To see the animals?"

He nodded, "to see the animals, yes. Would you like to go?"

"Yes! I want to see the animals."

"And it's okay if Niall goes with us?"

"I like Niall, Baba. He gave me a hat."

"Alright, then in three days we'll go see the animals with Niall, how's that sound?" Zayn felt the need to make sure Farah knew exactly what she was agreeing to. If he and Niall we're going to do.... Whatever it was they were doing, he didn't want to force Niall into Farah's life if she didn't want him there.

"Sounds good, Baba." She answered, laying her head back down on Liam's shoulder. He unlocked his phone and sent his reply to Niall.

Z: Yes. We'd like that.  
N: it's a date :)  
N: if you want it 2 be  
Z: I do. :)  
N: good !

After the three of them got home, and Farah had gone to sleep, Liam demanded that Zayn tell him everything. "Are you two dating?"

"No? I don't think? I mean, the zoo is a date but we've only just talked a few times..."

"And?"

"And?"

"What else? C'mon Zayn, that smile and you're sudden attachment to your phone suggest there's more to the story here."

"We kissed?"

"Is that a question orrr..."

Zayn smiled out right now, "we definitely kissed."

"Yeah!" Liam pumped his fist in the air and held his hand out for a high five.

Zayn rolled his eyes, but high fived Liam anyways. Then his phone vibrated on the table next to him with a text from Niall.

N: wanna see u  
Z: Liam's here :(  
Z: Not :( to Liam, he's great. :( to not seeing you. Aha!  
N: wanna kiss u :(  
Z: :* xx  
N: dork

Liam punched his arm.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"I asked if you'd only just kissed him."

"Oh, yeah. I told him I wanted to take things slow, he said he didn't mind. He's really kinda great, actually."

"Yeah? Tell me about him then." And so they sat and talked and Zayn spent a good forty five minutes gushing to Liam about Niall, all the while getting texts from the man himself.

N: we could be cuddling right now  
N: i could be holding ur hand right now, you've got nice hands  
N: we could be kissing right now, you've also got nice lips  
N: u look just as great as I had imagined in sweatpants  
N: bet you'd look great out of them 2

And then, right as Liam was getting up to leave:

N: can i send u a picture?

Zayn bit his lip, he could feel the hint of desire pooling in his stomach, suddenly as much as he loved Liam, he was very glad he was leaving. They said their goodbyes at the door, exchanging a hug, and Zayn immediately headed up stairs to his bedroom. He shut his door, turned on his light, tugged his shirt off and sprawled out on his bed. When he unlocked his phone to reply, he wasn't sure what exactly was about to happen, but he felt ready for it.

Z: Sure.  
N: if u want to stop just let me know  
Z: Will do.  
Z: Now where's my picture?

The next text he received from Niall was a picture of him from the waist down, one hand shoved down the front of the red plaid boxers he was wearing. Zayn's dick twitched in interest.

N: thinking of u

Zayn felt completely out of his element. He was not at all used to sexting, and it had felt like ages since he had tried to do anything remotely sexy. He had gotten himself off from time to time, sure. But that wasn't exactly sexy, and he had no one to impress when it was just him and his hand. So, rather than trying to be sexy, he decided he'd just relate to Niall what he was thinking and hope for the best. 

Z: I would like to get my mouth on you...  
N: fuck, Zayn  
Z: If we were together right now I'd suck you off

It took a minute for Niall to reply, and Zayn took the time to push his sweat pants down to his knees along with his boxer briefs, not wanting to get them dirty. As he waited for Niall's reply, he trailed one hand down his own pelvis, trailing a finger through the hair at the base of his dick before taking the length in his hand and beginning to stroke slowly. His phone vibrated and he opened the text, it was another picture of Niall from the waist down, this time his boxers were gone and he had a hand around his thick, leaking cock. 

N: r u touching yourself?  
Z: Wishing it was your hand instead of mine

And Zayn sent Niall a picture in return, pants around his knees, thumb sliding over the slit of his own cock. 

N: fuck zayn that is so hot 

And Zayn continued stroking himself off, hand around his dick, pumping faster. He knew he wouldn't last long, hoped Niall was close too. 

Z: Can't wait for you to touch me, can't wait to feel your hands on me. 

And feeling bold, Zayn sent Niall a picture of his face, head titlted back, eyes half shut, bottom lip sucked into his mouth to suppress a moan. The picture he received in return was just plain obscene, it was Niall sucking a come covered finger into his mouth, eyes wide. Zayn took one look at it and came almost instantly, dropping his phone and throwing his head back against his pillows. 

He was just cleaning himself off with a handful of tissues of of his night stand when his phone rang, lit up with Niall's contact. He pulled his sweatpants and boxer briefs back up and answered it instantly. "Hi." he said, feeling a little shy. 

"Hi yourself." Zayn could hear the smile in Niall's voice. "Just wanted to call and tell you goodnight, make sure you were okay." 

Zayn's heart constricted in his chest. How was Niall so sweet? It kind of made him want to sprint next door and wrap the man up in his arms, never letting go. "Yeah, I'm good," he answered. "Really good. Goodnight, Niall." 

"Goodnight, Zayn." And with that, Zayn hung up his phone and drifted off into what was probably one of the best sleeps he'd had in a while.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Niall's POV

When Niall came home from work on Thursday to find Zayn and Farah playing in the yard next door, it took every ounce of self-control he had not to run across the yard, tackle Zayn to the ground, and kiss him breathless. Instead he crossed the yard casually, coming to a stop next to Farah who seemed to be trying to explain to Zayn how to properly throw a foam baseball. "You have to step with your foot and throw, Baba," she was saying. "Just like Uncle Lee-yum taught me." 

"She's right," Niall said, "you've got to step and then throw."

"See! Niall knows!" she exclaimed, shooting an adorably disgruntled looking Zayn a serious look. Niall chuckled. "Hi Niall. Baba said you're taking us to see the animals on Saturday."

"I am," Niall agreed, kneeling down so he was more at her level. "If that's okay with you, of course. Would you like to go to the zoo with me on Saturday, Miss Farah?" 

Farah nodded, bouncing on her toes. "Yes! I want to see the polar bears." 

"We can most definitely see the polar bears." He said, smiling. "Now, should we show your Baba how to throw?" Niall straightened up, took the foam baseball Farah was holding out to him, and turned to Zayn who still had the adorable disgruntled look on his face. 

"I know how to throw," he said, pouting out his bottom lip. Niall kinda wanted to bite it.

"You do not, Baba. Show him Niall." 

Niall laughed, and Zayn scowled at him. "Right. First you pull your arm back like this," Niall began, pulling his arm back as he spoke. 

"Niall." 

"Then you step with your opposite foot," and Niall stepped with his opposite foot. 

"Niall." 

"And then you throw." He threw the ball lightly to Zayn who managed to miss it, and it landed just next to and behind him. 

"You're bad at this!" Farah exclaimed, sounding completely over Zayn's lack of athletic ability. 

Zayn huffed and crossed his arms over his chest when Niall snorted. "I said I could throw, never said anything about catching."

"Okay," Niall said, "Let's see it then, throw it here." Zayn bent over to pick up the ball and threw it, Niall assumed he had meant to throw it towards him, but the ball whizzed past, landing about five feet to Nialls right. "Wow, he really is bad at this." Farah nodded her agreement solemnly and ran to retrieve the ball. 

"Alright," Zayn conceeded, "maybe I am bad at this." 

"That's okay, Baba." Farah said, walking to Zayn and hugging him around the legs. "You tried." 

Zayn chuckled and patted her shoulder, "Thanks Beti."

"I can play catch with you if you'd like," Niall offered Farah. 

"Yes please! Baba, you can watch." 

"Yeah, Zayn." Niall said, grinning playfully. "You can watch." 

Zayn shrugged, "That's probably for the best." 

They started out playing catch, but Farah quickly lost interest and Niall spent the better part of an hour chasing the giggling four year old around the yard. More than once he had caught Zayn watching the two of them with a fond expression on his face. A look that made Niall's heart flutter pleasantly in his chest. Eventually Farah had run into Zayn's open arms declaring dramatically that she was too tired to go on, and Niall admitted he too might be too tired to go on. They parted ways shortly after, with a promise from Zayn to text him later, and a hug from Farah who thanked him for playing with her. Niall told her he'd be happy to play catch with her any time, and then headed back over to his own house. 

When he got inside he found Louis curled up on the sofa staring blankly at some reality TV show that he had turned on. Niall plopped down next to him. 

"Hey Lou. You want pizza? I'm going to order pizza." 

"Not hungry," Louis mumbled, rearranging himself so he was leaning against Niall. "Can't eat when I know Harry hates me. Too painful." 

"Harry does not hate you." Niall answered, pulling out his phone to order a pizza online. 

"He hasn't been home, Ni! And he isn't answering any of my texts. What if he never comes back? What if he never talks to me again?" 

"None of those things are going to happen." 

"Yeah, but how do you know? They might." 

"They won't, Harry told me he'd be home this weekend." 

"Oh-- oh no. What am I going to say? What am I going to do?"

"You're going to apologize for being stupid, and then you're going to tell him you love him and then you two are going to get married and have twelve kids." 

"I can't just tell him I love him, Niall!"

"Sure you can." 

They spent the time until the pizza came silently watching TV, and then when the pizza came Niall got them both two slices on plates and made Louis eat both of his. "I've got a date," Niall said into the silence, and Louis choked on his last bite of pizza. 

"What! Oh my god, do you have a date with the hot neighbor?" 

"He does have a name, you know. You should probably stop referring to him as 'the hot neighbor.' And yes, I do have a date with Zayn. Farah too, we're going to the zoo on Saturday." 

"Awwwww, Niall! You're taking him AND his daughter on a date? That's probably the cutest thing you've ever done. I can't believe you're dating a guy with a kid." 

"Me either, honestly. I mean... it's not really something I imagined myself ever doing but I think I really like him, Lou. And she's really great too. Like, spending time with him, and then spending time with them together... I don't know, I can't explain it but it just feels right." Niall could feel himself blushing red, and Louis poked at his cheek. 

"Whatever floats your boat, Horan. And for the record, I support you. I don't think you've stopped smiling since you met them." 

Niall's phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out to reveal a text from Zayn. 

Z: Come over? :)  
N: on my way !

When Niall got to Zayn's house, Zayn pulled him inside and pressed him up against the closed front door kissing him firmly on the lips. Niall slid his hands to rest on Zayn's hips, and Zayn pulled back slightly. "Hi." he said, lips fixed into a small smile. 

"Hi." Niall repeated, leaning forward to kiss Zayn again. Zayn brought his arms up to wrap around Niall's neck, and they stood in the doorway for what could have been seconds or hours, Niall was too lost in the feel of Zayn's body pressed up against his own to notice. 

"Can we cuddle?" Zayn asked, stepping back to take Niall's hand. Niall nodded and laced their fingers together, leading the way to Zayn's sofa. Niall sat down first, legs stretched out across the cushions, and then pulled Zayn down to sit between his legs. He sat with his back pressed against Niall's front, Niall's arms around Zayn's middle. Zayn brought one of Niall's hands up to his mouth and kissed each one of his knuckles. "Would it be silly to say I missed you?" 

If in the future someone were to ask Niall when he had fallen for Zayn, he would describe to them this moment. It was such a simple question, but it had Niall's heart racing. He felt warm and content, and kinda like he never wanted to let Zayn go. He tightened his arms around him and nuzzled his face into the back of Zayn's neck, leaving a soft kiss on the side of Zayn's neck that sent a shiver that Niall could feel through his body. "Only if it would be silly to say I missed you too." 

And Niall was falling. Falling so fast and so hard that he couldn't stop if he wanted to. Falling for Zayn in a way he had never fallen for anyone before. And he had barely known him a week. A week of text messages and cuddling was all it had taken to send Niall spiraling into Zayn and he honestly couldn't say he minded. He felt like maybe he should be afraid but the more he thought about it, the more he realized he wasn't really afraid. 

The two of them sat cuddled on the sofa for a long time, not even really talking, completely comfortable and happy to just be in each others company. When Niall decided it was probably time for him to leave due to the fact that he could barely keep his eyes open, Zayn pulled him to his feet and wrapped his arms around him. "Don't want you to go," he murmured through a yawn, face pressed against Niall's neck. Niall ran his hands up Zayn's back and turned his head to kiss his temple. 

"I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?" He said, continuing to ghost his palms over Zayn's back. 

"Okay." Zayn said, kissing Niall's neck, and then leaning back to kiss his lips. "Night Niall," he said, yawning again. 

"Good night, Zayn." And as he left, Niall thought he'd really really like to follow Zayn up the stairs to his bedroom and cuddle up against him while they slept.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zayn's POV

Friday had been rather uneventful for Zayn, he and Farah had spent the day inside. He had worked on some illustrations for his book while Farah sat next to him doodling in a coloring book. Then they had went for a walk around the neighborhood and ended up at the park where they had played for a while before heading back home. Once back at their house, Zayn managed to talk Farah into taking a bath without much fuss and then he read her Harry Potter until she fell asleep. Then he had texted Niall asking him to come over but Niall had to decline because he was apparently having a drunken Louis related crisis. He did however request that Zayn meet him on the front porch for a good night kiss and the two of them managed to spend a good ten minutes wrapped up in said good night kiss before drunken Louis himself had stumbled out of the house he shared with Harry and Naill, whining for Niall and nearly falling over the banister of their porch. Zayn had let Niall go then, not wanting to feel responsible for any damage Louis would have caused if he'd kept him any longer. So Niall had went home after a last sweet peck to Zayn's lips, and Zayn had went back inside head reeling from the fact that Niall had stopped by just to kiss Zayn good night. He was sort of having a hard time believing Niall was real.

Through a series of text messages Zayn and Niall had decided that Niall would pick him and Farah up for their zoo date at 10am on Saturday, which would give them plenty of time to walk around the zoo and stop for dinner. When Zayn awoke to his alarm going off Saturday morning, he first made his way to Farrah's room to wake her up and tell her to get dressed, and then stared at his own closet before calling Liam in a state of panic over what to wear. 

"Okay, but Li... what if I look better in the blue shirt?" 

"Sophia says you should wear the black shirt." 

"Fine. But what if I get too hot in pants? Should I wear the shorts or the pants?" 

"If you're going to be outside all day, you should probably wear the shorts."

"But I have weird knees."

Liam sighed, "doesn't every one? Knees are just weird, I think."

"Mine are especially weird."

"He's gonna see your knees eventually."

"Already has, sorta."

"What?"

"It was like, a picture-- nevermind."

"A picture? Of your--Zayn Malik, were you sending your neighbor dirty pictures?"

"Maybe."

"Wow. I'm honestly kind of shocked. Did he say anything about your weird knees then? I mean, he was probably too buys looking at your dick, but--"

"Liam!"

"Right, sorry. Just wear the shorts, Zayn. Your knees are fine."

"I'm sorry, god, I'm just so nervous. I'm going on a date. I can't believe I'm going on a date." 

"Well, you are. And you're going to have a great time, if you don't I'm kicking Niall's ass." 

Zayn laughed lightly. "Thanks Liam." 

"Any time. Now, I'm going to go, you get dressed and have fun on your date. If you need anything I'm just a phone call away."

Zayn was really thankful for Liam, Zayn kind of always thinks he's probably too sweet for this world. "Love you, Li."

"Love you too Zayn, Bye." 

Zayn hung up the phone and quickly dressed in a pair of shorts with a black v-neck t-shirt and then spent the next half an hour doing his own hair, and then Farah's who had managed to dress herself and was waiting patiently for Zayn to get through his clothing crisis.

They were just sitting down to a breakfast of fruit loops when there was a knock at the door.

"Niall's here!" Farah exclaimed, jumping up with her spoon still in hand and starting towards the front door. 

"Walk, Farah Hanan," Zayn cautioned, getting to his feet and following after her. 

Can I open the door, Baba?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Sure, go ahead."

Farah opened the door to reveal Niall who was wearing khaki shorts and a green polo holding a bouquet of brightly colored flowers and a child sized red snap back. "Hello Miss Farah," he said, kneeling down in front of her. He held out the red snap back to her, "this is for you."

Farah took the snap back from Niall and excitedly placed it on her head, flattening her dark curls. It clashed terribly with her bright pink tank top and green shorts, she looked adorable. "Look Baba!"

"I see, it looks great on you." he smiled, placing a hand on her shoulder. "What do you say to Niall?"

"Thank you Niall," she said. "Now I have a red one like yours!"

Niall looked completely endeared. "You're very welcome," he replied.

"Why don't you go finish your breakfast, Farah?" Zayn suggested. 

"I want to go to the zoo!"

"I know you do, and we will. As soon as you eat your breakfast and brush your teeth. Okay?"

"Okay Baba," she agreed, heading back into the kitchen. When she was gone, Zayn turned back to Niall who was still standing in the doorway holding the flowers, there was a light blush creeping up his cheeks. For the first time since Zayn had met him he looked nervous. 

"Um, these are for you," he said. "I wasn't sure if you liked flowers but--"

"I love them," Zayn interrupted, taking the bouquet from Niall and leaning in to kiss his cheek. He let his lips linger, and he felt a smile spread across Niall's face. "Thank you," he murmured, kissing Zayn again. This time on the mouth. 

In no time Farah was done eating and brushing her teeth, and after Zayn had insisted the all put on sunblock and packed a bag with snacks, the three of them were off in Niall's car. Farah was in the back fastened into her booster seat which Zayn had transferred from his own car to Niall's, and Zayn was in the passenger seat sneaking short glances at Niall who somehow made driving look incredibly attractive. Niall caught him looking once and grinned, and Zayn felt himself grinning back. Suddenly he realized he felt absolutely giddy at the prospect of his day at the zoo with Niall and Farah. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt this happy. 

When they arrived at the zoo, Zayn got Farah out of the car and bent down in front of her, taking her hands in his. "I know you're excited, Farah Hanan, but while you're here you have to hold my hand at all times, okay? No running off without us." 

"Can I hold Niall's hand?" she asked. Zayn glanced up at Niall who was looking as pleasantly surprised as Zayn felt, and nodded. 

"Sure, Beti. As long as you're holding one of our hands at all times." Farah held one of her hands out towards Niall who took it instantly and smiled uncertainly at Zayn. Like he wanted to make sure what he was doing was okay. And it definitely was. If Niall was going to be in his life, it was important to Zayn that Farah like him, and she seemed to like him very much. Zayn smiled at Niall, nodding ever so slightly, and then they headed into the zoo. 

They spent the day walking around, stopping to look at every animal. Farah had squealed over the polar bears claiming they were her favorite, and Niall had gotten excited when they stopped to look at the monkeys. About three quarters of the way through Farah started to complain about her feet hurting, and without hesitation Niall had picked her up, and carried her the rest of the way through. Zayn snapped a picture of them looking at the lions, Farah looking at the animals with wide eyes, Niall smiling at Farah. It was a great picture, and Zayn made it his phone background. 

When they were finished at the zoo they stopped to eat at an Italian restaurant where Niall had insisted on paying, and on the way home they held hands across the console as Farah fell asleep in the back. Niall pulled into Zayn's driveway and they both got out of the car, and Zayn lifted Farah out, careful not to wake her. Niall unfastened her booster seat from his car and they walked up the porch steps to the door, stopping in front of it. Zayn wasn't ready for the day to be over yet, and before he had time to second guess himself he asked Niall if he'd like to come in, and Niall had agreed. Zayn took Farah up to her bedroom and slid her shoes off followed by her new snap back before tucking her into bed and bending down to kiss her forehead. Zayn smiled as she wrinkled her nose in her sleep, and then he left her room shutting the door behind him. When he got back down stairs, he found Niall sitting at the kitchen table texting. 

"Harry just texted me," he said, gesturing at his phone. "Said he'll be home tomorrow morning. If him and Lou don't try to figure things out I swear I'll lock them in a closet until they come out kissing." 

Zayn laughed and sat down in the seat across from Niall. "Maybe you should have done that a while ago," he said, hooking his foot on Niall's ankle. 

"Probably shoud have," Niall said shaking his head. "Could have avoided this whole mess. Enough about my clueless friends though, did you have a good time today?"

Zayn smiled and leaned forward, resting his head on his hand. "Today was perfect, Niall."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You had fun too, right?"

"I had a great time with you guys," Niall said, reaching across the table to run a finger down Zayn's cheek. "You're too far away."

"You're too far away." Zayn shot back playfully, getting out of his chair and holding his hand out for Niall to take. Niall took it and Zayn pulled him to his feet and tugged him towards the stairs. 

"Where we going?" Niall asked, lacing his fingers with Zayn's.

"Well... if it's okay with you, I thought maybe we could go to my bedroom?" At his words, Niall's mouth formed a little "oh" and he nodded. 

"Yes, that is definitely okay with me," he said, sounding breathless. They went up stairs to his bedroom, and Zayn locked the door behind them. Once they were standing in his room, looking at one another, Zayn suddenly felt shy. He had felt very sure of himself, inviting Niall up to his room, but now once they were there he suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious, very aware of the fact that he hadn't gotten off with anyone in over two years. Niall seemed to pick up on his nervousness, and came to stand in front of Zayn. He slid his arms around his waist and Zayn wrapped his around Niall's neck. Niall kissed him briefly and pulled back, sincere expression on his face. "We don't have to do anything you don't want to, Zayn. I'd be happy just kissing you all night, okay?"

Instead of answering, Zayn slid his hands into Niall's hair and kissed him again. "I want to do more than kissing," he said, pulling away. He pulled his own shirt off and Niall did the same. As soon as they were free of their shirts, Niall pushed Zayn backwards until the back of his knees hit the bed and he fell back on it, pulling Niall on top of him. Niall kissed Zayn hard, tugging on his bottom lip with his teeth before licking into his mouth. As the kissed, Zayn let his hands roam up and down Niall's bare back, and Niall slid a hand up Zayn's torso, brushing his fingers over first one of his nipples, and then the other, sending a shiver through his body. He kissed down Zayn's neck, and Zayn felt like every inch of skin Niall's lips touched was on fire. His hand traveled further down Zayn's torso before it reached the top of his pants, and suddenly Niall's hand was palming Zayn through the front of his shorts, and Zayn was arching his back, letting a quiet moan escape his lips. He made quick work of undoing Zayn's shorts, and then his own, when they were both left in only their underwear, Zayn in boxer briefs, and Niall in boxers, Niall reattached their lips and ground his hips down against Zayn's. It took all the self control Zayn possessed not to groan out loud as their Niall's hard length pressed against his own. "More." zayn whispered against Niall's lips, and as Niall ground down again, harder, "please." 

"Yes. Yeah, of course." Niall said, letting out a soft moan as Zayn reached down to trace his hard length through his boxers. And then he rid himself of his boxers and pushed Zayn's boxer briefs down. He sucked his fingers into his mouth before taking both his and Zayn's cocks in his fist and stroking them together. Zayn knew he wouldn't last long, but with Niall's hand on his dick, he could barely bring himself to care. He thrust his hips up, and Niall attached his mouth to his collar bone, sucking hard enough to leave a mark. As Niall pumped them faster, letting out breathy little "uh" sounds that went straight to Zayn's dick. It wasn't long before Zayn threw his head back letting out a quiet groan of Niall's name, coming between them, and Niall followed shortly after, muffling his moan against Zayn's neck. 

Niall cleaned them both off with tissues from Zayn's bedside table before crawling back into the bed and curling himself completely around Zayn, circling his bare waist with his arms. "That was really good," he said, nuzzling his nose against Zayn's ear. "Right?"

"Definitely," Zayn answered, turning to kiss Niall's forehead. And they lay like that for a while, cuddled up together in Zayn's bed, curious fingers roaming over the bare expanses of each others bodies. And when Niall got up to leave, Zayn watched from his spot in bed, enjoying the view. Niall was all slim body, and pale skin and Zayn thought he would never get enough of him. When Niall finished getting dressed, he bent over the bed to kiss Zayn good night and left. Zayn fell sleeping thinking he couldn't have possibly asked for the day to have gone any better.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Niall's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously, thank you all so much for reading and continuing to read this story. I never really intended for it to be this long, but once I started writing I couldn't stop and I'm still going! Also, I apologize if my sex-scenes suck, I've never written one before so there's that. I'm trying my best. Thanks again for all your kind comments, I appreciate them so much.

When Niall and Louis heard Harry opening the front door on Sunday afternoon, Niall launched himself onto Louis' lap, effectively rendering him unable to move. Louis looked at him panicked, but Niall remained where he was. Louis and Harry were going to talk. They were going to talk right now, if it meant that Niall had to figure out a way to sit on both of them and force them to speak. 

"Niall!" Louis squeaked, eyes wide. "Niall move!"

"No can do Lou, sorry." 

Louis began pushing on Niall's chest to no avail, and a few seconds later Harry rounded the corner into the living room, stopping in the doorway to take in the scene in front of him. "Um, hi?" he said, eyebrows raised. 

"Hey Harry," Niall answered from his spot on Louis' lap. Louis had fallen still and was now gripping the front of Niall's shirt in one of his fists. "I have Louis here for you, if you'd like to talk."

"Niall." Louis hissed, pushing at his chest again, trying to dislodge him from his lap. 

Harry blinked, looking suddenly hurt. "You don't want to talk to me, Lou?"

Louis who had been completely avoiding looking at Harry, finally snapped his head up to look at him, "I've been trying to talk to you, Harry, you haven't been answering."

"I just needed some time, and this wasn't a conversation I wanted to have over the phone. We both deserve better than that." 

Satisfied that his two friends were finally going to have a constructive conversation about the fact they were in love with each other, Niall slid off of Louis' lap. "Right, you two have a good talk then," he said, and he patted Harry on the shoulder as he passed him on the way up to his bedroom. When he got to his room he pulled out his guitar and began playing. He had a gig coming up the following Thursday at a local venue, and needed to make sure he had his original songs down as well as the covers he planned to play. As a local artist, it was important that he add enough covers into his set to keep the audience engaged and interested since they wouldn't know his originals. 

As he strummed his way through Ed Sheeran's "This" he started thinking of Zayn. His ability to be simultaneously the most beautiful, and the geekiest person Niall had ever met. The passion in his voice when he talked about literature, the pride in his voice and the look of absolute adoration in his eyes when he talked about Farah, the way he had so easily opened up to Niall about Akiliah even though it had seemed difficult for him. He thought of the cautious smile that had appeared on Zayn's face when he had told Niall he liked rap and hip-hop music the best. Remembered the fond, mischievous look in his eye as he had teased Niall about listening to mainly top 40 hits. He thought back to their date day yesterday, and how genuinely happy Zayn had looked the whole day. Niall was surprised when Farah had asked to hold his hand in the zoo, and had felt oddly important when she had held her little hand out to take his. Walking around the zoo next to Zayn, holding onto Farah's hand had felt right, and when she complained about her feet hurting it had felt only natural for Niall to lift her into his arms and carry her the rest of the way. And eating dinner with them had been a blast. Zayn and Farah had spent most of the meal explaining to him their favorite super heroes, and then when Niall mentioned he liked to sing, Farah demanded he sing for her and he had burst out into a quiet but dramatic rendition of Love Story by Taylor Swift which she claimed was her favorite. Then he thought about the end of the night. Zayn inviting him up to his bedroom, Zayn telling him he wanted to do more than just kiss, the way Zayn's body felt pressed against his own, the way Zayn had looked when he came, the delicious sounds he had made. Realizing half of his set list made him think of Zayn, he put down his guitar and picked up his phone. He opened their conversation and typed out a text. 

N: got a gig next Thursday night at a venue in town. u want to come?  
Z: I'd love to hear you play. :)  
Z: I just have to find someone to stay with Farah and I'll be there.   
N: hope u can make it, i'll play a song for u :)

When it was clear to Niall that Zayn wouldn't be texting back right away, he decided he should probably go downstairs and check on Harry and Louis. Partly because he worried about them, and partly to satisfy his own curiosity. There didn't seem to be any yelling coming from the living room where Niall had left them, so he figured that must be a good sign. Louis was a bit dramatic, and tended to yell if he was even a little bit angry or stressed out. When he walked into the living room, he was met with a not at all surprising sight. Harry was sitting on the sofa, and Louis was sitting on Harry, straddling him. The two were wrapped up in what appeared to be a very heated kiss. Niall had to restrain himself from yelling and pumping his fist in the air. Instead he cleared his throat and then doubled over laughing when Louis tried scrambling out of Harry's lap at the same time as Harry pushed Louis back, causing him to fall flat on his ass on the floor in front of the sofa. 

"Lou, oh my god, are you alright?" Harry asked eyes wide, sounding concerned. 

Louis hmmphed and crossed his arms, glaring up at Harry from his spot on the floor. "You pushed me!" 

"Yes, but it was Niall's fault!" Harry exclaimed, trying to reach out a hand to help Louis up, Louis batted his hand away and recrossed his arms. 

"Hey, I didn't even do anything," Niall said, still snickering. "You were the ones making out on the sofa. You do have two perfectly acceptable bedrooms that you can use. That I fully expect you to use. I don't want to be walking in on the two of you having wild sex all over the place." 

"We weren't going to have sex on the sofa, Nialler," Louis said, shrugging. "I was just going to blow him." 

Harry's jaw dropped open a little, "He Niall, be a pal and leave, would you?"

Niall spluttered, "I will no--" and was cut off by Louis. 

"I said WAS" Louis clarified. "But you're mean and you pushed me so I think I'm good now." 

Harry slid off the sofa and sat down next to Louis, he wrapped his arms around him and nuzzled into his neck. Niall kinda wanted to throw a party. 

"Lou," Harry said, placing a kiss just behind Louis' ear. "Lou, I'm sorry for pushing you."

Louis pushed at Harry, but his attempt was half hearted at best "Get off me, Styles." 

"Would rather get you off," Harry replied smoothly, lips quirking up into a grin. 

"I don't need to see this," Niall said. 

Louis got to his feet first, and then held out a hand to pull Harry up. "C'mon Haz, Niall's declining a free show."

"And it's going to be such a good show." Harry stated confidently, winking at Niall. 

Niall groaned. "Have I told you lately how much I hate the both of you?" he yelled after them as they headed upstairs. 

"We know you love us!" Louis yelled back, and with that he heard the sound of a door closing. He turned on the TV then, and turned up the volume, watching a re-run of Law and Order as he actively tried not to think about the fact that his two best friends were currently having sex under the same roof as him. It mostly worked. 

He was about halfway through a second Law and Order re-run when he received a reply from Zayn. 

Z: My sister is going to stay with Farah Thursday so I can see you play! :) :)  
N: ahh ! i'm nervous now, haha  
Z: You shouldn't be, I've heard you sing. You're really good. I can't wait to watch you perform.   
N: hope i don't disappoint   
Z: You definitely won't. You couldn't if you tried. :)  
N: aww, thanks :)  
N: so, Harry and Lou are having sex right now  
Z: Finally!  
N: i'm happy for them  
Z: Me too, it seems like that will make it easier on all of you.  
N: only if they save the sex for their own bedrooms  
Z: aha! Good luck with that.  
N: :(  
Z: Come over? I want to kiss you.   
N: can't say no to that

So Niall made his way over to Zayn's house, and when Zayn let him in he wrapped his arms around Niall's waist and kissed him square on the lips. They kissed like that for a while. Zayn moved his hands to slip them under Niall's shirt, resting them on his bare abdomen, and Niall had one hand on Zayn's hip, the other on his cheek running a thumb over his stubble. Niall felt Zayn's tongue press against his bottom lip and he parted them slightly, allowing Zayn to slide his tongue into his mouth. Zayn's tongue flitted over his own. He ended the kiss with a feather light peck to the corner of Niall's lips, and pulled back. "You're like, really good at that," Niall commented, leaning back in to kiss along Zayn's Jaw. "Really." Kiss. "Really." Kiss. "Good." Kiss. 

Zayn let out a quiet laugh, breath tickling over Niall's cheek. "Wanna watch a movie?" He asked. Niall agreed and Zayn showed him his DVD collection, telling him he could pick one out. He looked over the different titles coming to a stop at the original "Halloween" movie. He pulled it out, and held it up. "Oh, uh, that one's not mine. Liam must have left it at some point..." 

"But we can still watch it though, yeah? It's one of my favorites." Niall loved horror movies, and in his opinion, the original Halloween movies were the best out there. 

"Um, yeah. Of course." Zayn took the DVD from Niall and went to put it in the player. When they settled in on the couch and pressed play, Zayn instantly cuddled into Niall. Niall wrapped his arms around him and glanced at him curiously. He seemed nervous. 

"Hey Zayn?"

"Yeah"

"Are you scared?"

"I'm not--no. I'm not scared. It's just a movie."

"Zayn."

"Okay, I kind of hate horror movies."

"We can watch something different if you'd like."

"No, I said you could pick and you did. We're gonna watch this."

"Alright, but if it gets too scary fo--"

"Niall, I can handle it." 

Niall laughed and kissed Zayn's cheek. "Okay, okay. You can handle it." 

As it turned out, Zayn couldn't handle it. Despite the fact that Niall had attempted to distract Zayn with kisses through the more frightening parts of the movie, he had still ended up with his face hidden in Niall's shirt, eyes shut tight. When the movie ended and Niall got up to leave, Zayn clung to his hand and didn't let go until they had shared a good night kiss, bid each other good night, and Niall was stepping out the door. He hadn't been home ten minutes when his phone rang, screen lit up with Zayn's contact. 

"Hey."  
"Niall?"  
"Yeah, babe?"  
"Did you just call me babe?"  
Shit. Well, there was that. Wast that okay? It had just slipped out. "Maybe."  
"I like it."  
"Yeah?"  
"Yes."  
"Zayn?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Not that I mind, but why did you call?"  
"Oh, uhh. Right. Did you know I hate horror movies?"  
"You may have mentioned it once or twenty times tonight."   
"Did I mention the worst part of a horror movie is trying to go to sleep after watching one?"  
Niall instantly felt bad at the thought of Zayn freaked out all by himself next door. "Zayn, we should have picked something else. I told you I didn't mind."  
"But I said no, and now here we are. So, would you just like, talk to me until I fall asleep? Maybe? If you want. You don't have to." 

And Niall did, of course he did. They talked for a long time until Zayn's voice faded off and Niall could hear him breathing evenly into the phone.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zayn's POV

Zayn was screwed. Like, completely and utterly screwed. The day after Niall had stayed on the phone with him until he had fallen asleep, Niall had shown up at his house before he left for work with an "i'm sorry you were scared" coffee, and a good morning kiss.

Later when Niall had come home from work, he had crossed the yard to join Zayn and Farah in covering the sidewalk in front of their house with chalk art. And then, after Zayn had put Farah to bed, Niall had come back over and the two spent another night curled up on the sofa talking and watching a movie. The next few days went similarly, Niall spending time with him and Farah after work, and then rejoining Zayn later in the night spending time together just watching movies and talking. There was also a lot of kissing and cuddling involved, Zayn thought maybe the cuddling was his favorite part. Before he knew it, it was Thursday and his sister Waliyha was knocking on the door, there to stay with Farah for the evening while he, along with Liam, Sophia, Louis, and Harry, were going to watch Niall's gig. 

Farah was sat in front of the television completely engrossed in an Avengers cartoon he had found on Netflix, so he went to answer the door himself, and was instantly engulfed in a hug. His younger sister standing on her tiptoes to throw her arms around his neck and kiss his cheek. "Hey big brother," she said as Zayn gave her a tight squeeze around the waist. 

"Hey Wali," he said as they broke apart. "Thanks again for babysitting."  
She set her over night bag down by the door and pushed a stray hair out of her face. "Sure. You know I never mind watching my favorite little monster. Where is she, anyways?"  
"Watching TV, we found an Avengers cartoon."  
"You two and your super heroes."  
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with super heroes."  
She grinned and punched his arm lightly, "never said there was."  
They walked into the kitchen and he filled two glasses with water, handing one to her. "How's life?"  
"It's good," she answered, "nothing to write home about, but still good. How about you? What's this thing you're going to tonight? You never go out. And you're dressed all fancy." She gestured towards his outfit and he tugged at the hem of his shirt self-consciously. He was wearing a pair of tight fitting black skinny jeans and a white button up shirt, the first few buttons undone at his neck revealing his collar bone, sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He thought he looked good, but didn't want to look like he was trying too hard.  
"Is it too much, do you think?"  
"Nah, I don't think so. Especially if you've got someone you're trying to impress." She gave him a knowing look, and he tried to keep his expression neutral.  
"I'm not trying to impress anyone." he said flatly.  
"I don't believe you. C'mon Zayn, my life is boring. Let me live vicariously through you. What's their name?"  
Zayn chuckled and shook his head. "Niall."  
"Oooo, is that the one you're going to see perform tonight?" she asked, leaning forward.  
"Yeah, he lives next door. We... hang out sometimes."  
"You hang out. So you're what? Hooking up with him?"  
"No. I mean, once. Sorta. But mostly we just like, talk and spend time together. I dunno. He took Farah and I on a date this past Saturday."  
"So you like him, then?"  
Zayn breathed out. "Yeah, I do."  
"And you're planning on hooking up with him tonight."  
"No!" Zayn exclaimed. "I'm not planning on anything except watching his gig."  
"Uh huh, sure." she said at the same time Farah came running into the kitchen.  
"Auntie Walihya!"  
"Hey there, short stuff. How's my favorite niece?"  
"I'm your only niece, Auntie."  
Walihya laughed and tickled Farah's side. "Still my favorite, smarty pants."  
Just then there was a knock at the door, and all three of them took off running for it. It was most definitely Niall, and they knew it. Zayn wanted to answer it before Walihya had the chance to embarrass him, Walihya wanted to get a good look at Niall and probably say something incredibly embarrassing, and Farah was just excited to see Niall. To Zayn's annoyance, Walihya got to the door first and threw it open, Zayn skidding to a halt right behind her, barely managing to stop, and Farah collided into Zayn's legs. Niall blinked at them from the doorway, lips quirked up in an amused expression.  
"Hi," he said, smiling. And then directed his attention towards Walihya. "You must be Zayn's sister?"  
"That's my auntie Walihya," Farah said, pushing past both Zayn and Walihya to hug Niall around his legs. "This is Niall, he gave me hats."  
Niall smiled and rested one hand on Farah's shoulder, holding the other out for Walihya to shake. "Nice to meet you, Niall. My brother was just telling me about you."  
Niall slid his eyes over to meet Zayn's, eyebrows raised. "Was he, now?"  
"We should get going," Zayn said, successfully changing the subject. "Tell Niall bye, Beti."  
Farah lifted her arms up, and Niall picked her up, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek. "Bye bye, Niall. Sing pretty!"  
"Thank you miss Farah, I will." he said, setting her back on her feet. Walihya caught Zayn watching the two of them fondly and shot him a shit-eating grin. Zayn rolled his eyes. Farah made her way over to Zayn, and he kneeled down and wrapped his arms around her. "Be good for your aunt, okay?"  
"I will, I promise. I'll miss you Baba." The sentence kinda made Zayn want to stay, but he forced himself to stand up. Farah would without a doubt be fine without him for an evening.  
"I'll miss you too, Beti. I love."  
"I love you mostest!" she said, smacking a wet kiss against his cheek, and running off towards the living room.  
"Alright, I've got it from here," Walihya said, beginning to usher him out the door. And then, "Hey Zayn?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Should I be expecting you back tonight or tomorrow morning?"  
"Wali!"  
"Right, it doesn't matter. I'm staying the night here anyways. You two have fun." And with a wave she shut the door. Zayn turned to look at Niall who looked like it was causing him a great deal of self control not to laugh at Zayn's clear distress. Zayn stuck out his bottom lip in a pout, and a grin spread across Niall's face. He leaned forward and nipped at Zayn's lip, pulling back before Zayn could react and holding his hand out to lead Zayn to his car.  
"Come on Malik," he said, squeezing Zayn's hand. "None of that. You know I don't care one way or another where you spend the night tonight." He stopped then, and turned to look at Zayn. Blue eyes fixed on Zayn's brown. "No, wait. That's a lie. I don't care whether you spend the night with me or alone. I'd care if you spent it with someone else."  
Zayn kissed him then, feeling like this was an important moment, "Wouldn't want to spend it with anyone else."  
When they finally made it to the car, Louis and Harry were waiting for them in the backseat, Louis tucked under Harry's arm. "It's about time," he said. "Thought you two were going to miss the gig because you couldn't keep your tongues to yourselves." Harry pinched him, and he squeaked, elbowing Harry in the ribs.  
"Shut up Lou, they're cute."  
"I think both of you should shut up," Niall said, backing out of the driveway. 

When they got to the bar Niall was playing at, Liam and Sophia were already waiting for them in a booth. The five of them wished Niall luck, Zayn leaning in for a gentle kiss to the delight of their friends, causing a chorus of "awws." Niall flipped them off and then headed backstage guitar in tow. Zayn slid into the booth next to Liam and looked around at the other four, all of whom were staring at him.  
"What?" he asked, grumpily.  
"You two are cute." Harry said, shrugging.  
"And we're happy for you." Liam added, nudging Zayn's shoulder with his own. After that, Louis ordered them a round of drinks and Zayn sipped at his beer while he watched the person who was currently playing on stage. She was a dark haired girl, with a decent voice and Zayn tapped his foot along to the beat. Across from him, Harry and Louis were getting increasingly drunk, giggling into each other's shoulders and sharing sloppy kisses. Like himself, Liam was still sipping at his first beer, but Sophia was giggly and red-faced, hand creeping up Liams thigh. Zayn sighed into his half empty beer and wished Niall would come out already.

When Niall finally came on stage, Zayn couldn't take his eyes off of him. He had a presence that was commanding, yet approachable. The dim lights of the stage surrounded him, and an easy smile spread across his face. He looked like he was glowing, a literal angle descended to earth. Zayn pushed the remains of his second beer away, maybe he was just a little bit tipsy. Whatever the case, Niall looked like an angel with a guitar, and when he opened his mouth to sing, Zayn thought he sounded like one too. He watched captivated as Niall played his way through a set of mostly covers with a few originals thrown in. It was absolutely fantastic, he stopped to briefly address the audience before he played his last song and Zayn's heart stuttered in his chest.   
"I've brought someone special here with me tonight," Niall started. "I haven't known him very long, but he makes me really happy. This last song is for him." And then he launched into an absolutely beautiful cover of Ed Sheeran's "This," finding Zayn in the crowd and keeping eye contact with him through the whole song, smiling through the words "you are the earth that I will stand upon, you are the words that I will sing." And by the time Niall was finished, Zayn was certain he was nothing more than a puddle of goo on the ground. He felt pleasantly flushed, head swimming with the fact that Niall had just performed a song for him in front of a whole bar filled with people, heart fluttering pleasantly in his chest. He was vaguely aware of his friends teasing him, but he only had eyes for Niall who came back to the booth a few minutes later, guitar in hand. 

Niall looked kind of nervous, smiling uncertainly at Zayn. Zayn stood up and took the guitar case from Niall, setting it on the floor at their feet before pulling Niall into his arms and pressing their lips together firmly. Niall let out a surprised squeak and then wrapped his arms around Zayn's neck. Zayn licked into Niall's mouth briefly and Louis wolf-whistled from somewhere behind them. He pulled back slightly and rested his forehead against Niall's. "Thank you," he whispered. "I loved the song. Loved the whole set. You were great up there." 

A lovely blush crept up Niall's neck to his cheeks, and Zayn kissed him again. "I'm glad you liked it," Niall murmured against his lips. 

"You two do know you're still in public, right?" Harry asked from his spot in the booth, Liam snorted.   
"I'm pretty sure Louis had his hand down your pants earlier," Zayn said casually to Harry. "And Sophia's been trying to touch your dick all night." he directed at Liam. Niall laughed into his neck, breath ghosting over his skin, making him shiver. 

"You know what?" Louis said, "You're absolutely right. I want to fuck my boyfriend, and the rest of you clearly need rooms. We should go. Right now." And so they left. They bid goodbye to Liam and Sophia in the parking lot, and then Niall drove the rest of them back to his house. Louis and Harry made out in the back seat the whole way home, and Niall drove with one hand on the steering wheel, the other resting high on Zayn's thigh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise there will be a decent amount of sex in the next chapter. So, you have that to look forward to.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Niall's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is pretty much pure smut with a tiny bit of fluff, I honestly hope it's not awful.

As soon as Niall pulled into the driveway, Louis and Harry were tumbling out of the car, Louis pulling a barely upright Harry up the porch steps and into the house.

"They better be in one of their rooms by the time we get in there," Niall said, grabbing his guitar case out of the trunk while Zayn leaned against the car waiting for him. "I've walked in on them barely clothed three times already since they started dating, an it hasn't even been a week." Zayn chuckled, following behind him up to the front door. "So, you've decided to stay? Sleep over, I mean?" Niall questioned, turning to look at Zayn before he opened the door.

Zayn nodded, bringing a hand up to rub at the back of his neck, exposing a small strip of skin between his shirt and pants. Niall wanted to reach out and touch it, so he did. He slid his fingers across the bare skin of Zayn's side, causing tiny goosebumps to pop up on his skin. "I'm staying." Zayn answered, running his fingers up Niall's arm.

Niall leaned forward and kissed Zayn, he set his guitar down and ran both his hands up under the back of Zayn's shirt. He tugged at Zayn's bottom lip with his teeth, and then slipped his tongue into Zayn's mouth. As they kissed, Niall's hands slowly traveled down Zayn's back, he dipped his fingers into the waist band of Zayn's jeans, they were tight but stretchy and he was able to slide his hands down the back of them, tugging his boxers briefs down slightly as he went. He brought his palms to a stop at the swell of Zayn's ass, and squeezed, pulling Zayn forward as he did so, rolling their hips together.

Zayn let out a moan that echoed in the quiet of the night that surrounded them, and then buried his face in Niall's neck. "Inside" he mumbled, biting down on his skin sharply. Niall quickly removed his hands from Zayn's pants, picked up his guitar, and let Zayn enter the house in front of him.

Once inside, Niall lead a very compliant Zayn upstairs to his bedroom, and shut the door behind them. He contemplated a second before switching on the lights, deciding if he was about to have naked Zayn in his bed, he'd want to be able to see everything clearly. Niall took a seat on his bed and watched as Zayn wandered around his room, flipping through a stack of CDs and poking with his foot at the pile of clean socks he kept balled up near the end of his bed.

"You know," Zayn said lightly, "they make these things called dressers. They hold things like socks quite nicely."

"Don't know why you're judging me when you could be over here kissing me," Niall replied, leaning back slightly, resting on his hands.

"Hmm, I do like kissing you," And then Niall had a lap full of attractive man. Zayn straddled Niall, knees on either side of Niall's waist, arms wrapped around Niall's neck. Niall tilted his head back and grinned up at Zayn who was biting his bottom lip.

"You look good from this angle," Niall said, licking his lips. "Like you on top of me." He watched with a smirk as a blush appeared on Zayn's cheeks. "You're cute when you're shy."

Zayn leaned forward and nudged Niall's cheek with his nose. "M' not shy," he peppered a trail of light kisses over to Niall's ear and bit down on his earlobe, sucking it briefly into his mouth causing Niall to shiver. His ears were incredibly sensitive. "Wanna blow you," he whispered, kissing his way down Niall's neck and back up to his other ear. "Can I blow you, Niall?" He asked all earnest and innocent, rolling his hips down into Niall's, eliciting a surprised moan from the blonde haired man.

Niall's brain kind of short circuited then. "Yes," he managed to get out, as Zayn began circling his hips against Niall's "yes, God yes." Zayn captured his lips then, and they shared a heated kiss, Niall pulling away only far enough to tug Zayn's shirt over his head. Then he reached a hand between them and popped the button on Zayn's jeans. "Want these off," he said, pulling down the zip. "Want to see all of you while you blow me." Zayn stood up then, and Niall hooked his thumbs in Zayn's pants, pushing them down his thighs, along with his boxer briefs. They were kicked the rest of the way off, and Zayn stood between Niall's legs completely naked.

There was something incredibly sexy about having Zayn undressed between his legs while Niall was still clothed. Something about it that made Niall feel like he was in control, made him feel like Zayn was his. "You're beautiful," Niall said, brushing his lips over a heart tattoo that was inked into Zayn's hip. He slid a hand up Zayn's thigh and pressed his thumb to Zayn's entrance, not quite breeching the hole, barely pressing into the tight ring of muscle. Zayn's breathed hitched and his hips stuttered involuntarily.

"Niall," Zayn breathed out, keeping himself grounded by gripping Niall's shoulders.

"You should get on your knees now, Zayn," Niall said, and Zayn complied. He dropped to his knees in front of Niall and undid his pants. He rested one hand on Niall's thigh and slid the other one into his boxers, pulling out his hard length. He stroked Niall a few times before licking the pre-come from Niall's tip, swirling his tongue around it slowly and looking up at Niall from under long lashes, eyes dark with want. Niall let a quiet moan slip from his lips and struggled to keep his eyes from sliding shut in pleasure, not wanting to miss a moment of the scene that was unfolding in front of him. He couldn't get over how good Zayn looked, bare between his legs, lips shiny from a mixture of saliva and pre-come kissing down the base of Niall's dick, pink tongue flicking out to lap at Niall's balls before licking a strip back up to his tip. The heat of pure pleasure pooled in Niall's stomach and he had to breathe deeply to keep himself from coming, not wanting this moment to be over so soon.

"Taste so good," Zayn murmured, before wrapping his lips around Niall's Dick, rendering him unable to speak. Without much warning, Zayn swallowed around him and Niall nearly lost it. He groaned and threaded his fingers through Zayn's hair. Zayn choked a little and Niall stayed as still as he could, allowing Zayn to better relax his throat. Tears gathered at the corner of his eyes and Niall reached out to wipe them away.

"So good baby, you're doing so good." It only took a few seconds for Zayn to regain his composure. Soon Zayn was bobbing his head up and down, Niall's dick hitting the back of his throat, and Niall was tugging at his hair. "Zayn," Niall moaned. He could feel the beginning of his orgasm vibrating through his body. "Zayn, I'm gonna come." And Zayn looked up at him again, eyelashes fluttering as Niall came down his throat, Zayn swallowing until Niall was finished, and then pulling off of Niall's dick with an obscene pop. Niall sat there catching his breath, staring down at Zayn in complete awe as Zayn tucked him carefully back into his boxers and did up his pants. "Jesus Christ, Zayn," Niall said, caressing Zayn's cheek as he sat back on his heels to look up at Niall. "That was-- that was fucking amazing. C'mere."

Zayn crawled back into Niall's lap and Niall wrapped his arms around Zayn's waist, attaching his lips to Zayn's in a passionate kiss, enjoying the taste of himself on Zayn's tongue. He could feel Zayn's still hard length pressed against him and when Niall circled his fingers around him loosely, Zayn whimpered. "Please," he said voice coming out desperate, hips bucking up into Niall's hand. "Please Niall, please." He was desperately begging for release, Niall kind of loved it.

He kissed Zayn's jaw and nipped at the skin there. "I'll take care of you. Tell me what you need, baby."

"You. Just need you," he breathed nonsensically, continuing bucking up into Niall's hand, searching for contact.

Niall maneuvered them around so Zayn was lying in the middle of the bed, and then instructed him to roll over. Zayn did so, resting his head on his arms, rutting into the mattress. Niall hadn't exactly expected Zayn to be so needy in bed, but he thought he'd get off to the images of a submissive Zayn desperately needing to get off for years to come.

Niall stripped down to his boxers and then straddled Zayn's thighs. He bent forward and trailed kissed all the way down his spine, he placed a final kiss at the base of Zayn's spine and scooted back. He gently parted Zayn's legs with a hand on the back of each thigh and slotted himself between Zayn's legs. "If you want me to stop," he said, biting at Zayn's hip, "just say." And when Zayn didn't protest, Niall parted his cheeks with his hands and bent down to flatten his tongue over Zayn's hole.

Zayn cried out and fisted the sheets, Niall licked twice around the outside before pushing his tongue past the tight muscles, Zayn's hole contracting around his tongue. He wasted no time in thrusting his tongue in and out of Zayn, licking him out relentlessly as Zayn chanted his name over and over again like a mantra. "Niall, Niall, Niall," between cries of pleasure. Niall pushed a finger in next to his tongue, angling it differently with each thrust. When he finally found Zayn's prostate, he pressed his fingers against it while continuing the ministrations with his tongue and Zayn came almost instantly, nearly screaming Niall's name. Niall pulled back and slid an arm under Zayn, lifting his hips so he could get a hand on his cock, stroking him through his orgasm. When he finished coming, Niall lowered his hips back to the bed and got up to grab his discarded shirt from earlier. He used the shirt to clean off his hand, then gently rolled Zayn over who was still lying with his face pressed into the bed breathing heavily.

"Hey," Niall said, running a finger down Zayn's cheek "you okay?"

Zayn smiled lazily, "Much better than okay."

Niall leaned down to press a kiss to Zayn's smile, and then used the shirt to clean him up. He pulled the dirty too sheet out from under the adorably sleepy man on his bed who was refusing to move, and then got into bed next to Zayn, pulling the comforter over them. Zayn rolled over into Niall, tangled their legs together and threw an arm over his waist.

"You're kind of amazing," Zayn said quietly, kissing Niall softly in the lips and then laying his head on his chest.

"That makes two of us then," Niall said, kissing the top of Zayn's head. It didn't take long for Zayn to fall asleep, and once Niall felt his breathing even out, he too drifted off to sleep, thinking he'd like to get used to falling asleep with Zayn tangled around him.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zayn's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to update, I like to get updates out quickly and this took me nearly a week! I've been working on two ten page papers for two of my classes and I haven't had a lot of time for much else.   
> Buuuut, I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I do. ;)

Zayn woke up the next morning with his cheek pressed against Niall's chest, hand resting on his stomach, and both of his legs sprawled over Niall's. Judging by the steady rise and fall of his chest, and the occasional snuffling snore coming from above him, Zayn figured Niall must still be sleeping. Very slowly he lifted his head to look at Niall. His eyes were closed, lashes fanning out over his cheeks. His mouth was slightly open and there was a tiny dribble of drool at the corner of his lips. His hair was sticking up at odd angles, head cocked to the side. Zayn kinda thought he looked adorable. He rested is head in his hand, trailing the other one ever so lightly down to Niall's hip, rubbing gentle circles into the skin with his thumb. He hadn't really thought about what it would be like to wake up next to Niall, but now he thought it would be something he thought about often. Something he would want often. It hadn't felt weird to wake up next to him, and it hadn't felt weird to fall asleep next to him. All of it, everything that had happened between him and Niall from the first day they had met up until this moment felt completely natural. It terrified Zayn. He was falling so hard, so fast, and he wasn't sure how to feel about it. He felt like Niall was becoming someone he wouldn't want to lose and he didn't know if he was ready for that. Didn't know if he was ready to have someone in his life that meant so much to him. He thought about leaving then, gathering his clothes and dressing quickly, gone before Niall woke up. He could make up some flimsy excuse about how his sister had wanted him home, avoid seeing him, stop inviting him over in the evenings... he could do all of that. He could do all of that to avoid the possible pain of loss that might one day result from letting Niall get too close, but he didn't want that. Not really. He was scared, but mostly he just wanted to stay where he was and continue to watch Niall sleep, so he did. 

It didn't take long for him to get impatient. Sleeping Niall was cute and warm and cuddly, but awake Niall was much more fun. He began trying different ways to wake Niall up as nicely as possible. First he had just added a bit more pressure to the hand he had resting on Niall's hip, let his thumb trace over Niall's skin a bit less gently, scraping over it with his fingernail. When that didn't work, he ran his hand up Niall's torso to his chest and let his fingers stroke over the hair there, pulling at it lightly. Next he leaned in and kissed the corner of his mouth softly, a few times. Niall's nose twitched cutely, but his breathing was still sleep-even. Giving up entirely on a subtle wake-up, Zayn sat up and straddled Niall's waist, looking down at him.

Niall made a soft grunting noise, and blinked his eyes open slowly, a lazy smile spreading across his face. "Morning, beautiful" he said, voice raspy with sleep, lifting his hands up to rest on Zayn's bare thighs. Zayn could feel himself blushing at Niall's words, if anyone was beautiful, it was Niall. His cheeks were flushed pink from a warm sleep, clear blue eyes soft in the morning light, pale skin smooth against dark blue sheets, toned arms flexing with the way Niall was tracing slow patterns high on Zayn's thighs with his thumbs. "Could get used to being woken up like this." He ran one of his hands past Zayn's thigh and slid it around to rest over his ass, Zayn bit down on a smile and leaned down to press his lips against Niall's. 

"Good morning," he breathed against his lips, settling himself on Niall's chest. He tucked his face into the crook of Niall's neck and Niall wrapped his arms around his back. Zayn was filled with absolute affection and adoration for the man underneath him. And in that moment, he realized this was what he wanted, maybe even what he needed. He had been alone for so long, and this beautiful, sweet, goofy man in front of him was like a breath of fresh air. He was like sunshine in Zayn's previously dimly lit world. He kissed Niall's neck, and and scraped his teeth along the skin there, lazily sucking at it. He could feel Niall shiver below him. 

"Gonna leave a mark," Niall commented, trailing his hands down Zayn's back, stopping to squeeze when they reached Zayn's ass.

Zayn retaliated by biting down on his neck, "I hope so," he answered teasingly. "Then everyone will know you're mine." As soon as he had said it, Zayn felt Niall's breath hitch, the pulse in his neck jumping. Zayn pulled back and raised himself up, arms bracketing Niall's head. Niall's eyes were wide, looking hopeful, gaze intense. 

"You mean that?" he asked, "You want that? For me... You want me to be yours?" Niall looked so so hopeful, and it it made Zayn want to kiss him. So he did. Once, twice, three times, over and over again until Niall was grinning so widely that Zayn was having trouble kissing him.

"Yeah," Zayn said, kissing first just below Niall's right eye. "I want you to be mine." And then kissing just below his left eye. "And only mine." 

"Your what, Zayn?"

"My boyfriend." 

And suddenly Zayn was on his back, Niall on top of him, attacking his face with kisses. Zayn laughed and placed a hand on Niall's chest, pushing him back lightly. 

"Boyfriend." Niall repeated, smile still so wide, blue eyes sparkling excitedly, a slight crinkle to his nose. 

Zayn's heart was full with how much he adored him. "Yes?"

"You're my boyfriend."

"If you want."

"I want." he said, rolling his hips down to connect with Zayn's. Zayn moaned as Niall's boxer clad groin slid over his own naked length, his dick slowly beginning to harden.

Niall smirked down at him, rolling his hips again, grinding against Zayn. "Does that mean I get to wake up with you naked in my bed more often?" 

"Maybe," Zayn answered, dipping his fingers into the back of Niall's boxers before pushing them down. Niall kicked them off and then they were both completely bare, rutting against one another. Warm skin against warm skin, hard dicks sliding against each other, Niall pressing wet, open mouthed kisses down Zayn's neck to his chest. "Niall," he moaned, arching his back as Niall flicked his tongue over one of Zayn's nipples. and then licked a path across his chest to nip at the other one with his teeth, tugging on it. "Niall," he whispered breathily, pulling at his hair. Niall looked up at him, tongue continuing to swirl around the hard peak of his nipple. "Want you to fuck me." 

"Yeah." Niall breathed out, petting down Zayn's ribs, "Yeah, want to fuck you." He sat up then, and leaned over to his bedside table, pulling a bottle of lube and a box of condoms out of the drawer.

Niall sits back and Zayn spreads his legs for him, when he looks up at Niall, he's watching Zayn spread out before him with an absolutely sinful expression on his face. Zayn feels exposed in the best way possible. Niall opens the small bottle of lube and coats his fingers liberally. He lays on his belly between Zayn's legs and places a kiss on the inside of Zayn's thigh, and then licks up the underside of Zayn's dick, taking the tip into his mouth. Zayn lets out a loud moan, and feels one of Niall's lube covered fingers pressing against his entrance. Niall takes more of his hard length into his mouth at the same time as he presses his finger all the way in. The stretch burns at first, and Zayn hisses but Niall's tongue is swirling around his tip and his lips are stretched over Zayn's dick, and it's hot. Like, really hot, and Zayn is moaning again, struggling to keep his hips still as Niall works his finger in and out of him, adding a second one when Zayn asks for it.

When Niall adds a third finger, he changes angles and manages to hit Zayn's prostate. Zayn's close, can feel his orgasm tightening his muscles, toes curling into the sheets, hands fisted in Niall's hair. "Niall--Niall, I'm gonna--" And Niall swallows around him, continuing to thrust his fingers in and out of him, brushing his prostate, and Zayn is coming down Niall's throat, crying out and arching up into him. Niall pulls his fingers out of Zayn, and Zayn whines at the lost, feeling stretched and empty. 

"Think you can come again, for me?" Niall asks, stroking Zayn's cock which is once again starting to fill up slowly. 

"Yeah-- yeah, I can." He thrusts up into Niall's hand and Niall pulls his hand away, reaching for the box of condoms and opening one with his teeth. Zayn takes the condom out of his hand and rolls it onto Niall's dick himself. Niall groans and his hips stutter forward. He leans up and kisses Zayn gently on the mouth, and Zayn kisses back, runnig his hands up Niall's back, Niall runs his tongue over Zayn's lips and Zayn allows him entrance. They kiss like that for a while, slowly, hands running over each other's bodies. Until Zayn can't take it anymore, until the only thing he wants, the only thing he can think of, is having Niall inside of him, being filled up with Niall. "Ni--Ni, want you inside of me. Please... now."

Niall nips at Zayn's jaw and nuzzles into his neck. "Okay... okay." When Niall lines himself up and presses his tip to Zayn's hole, Zayn tenses up and grips Niall's forearms. It's not that he doesn't want it, he does, so badly. But it's been a while since he's done this and Niall is big and he's a little nervous. "C'mon," Niall whispers against his ear, hot breath ghosting over Zayn's cheek. "Relax, baby. I've got you." At Niall's words he does, letting his body go lax against the bed, and Niall presses the tip in, pushing past the first ring of muscles. "Breathe," Niall says, pressing a kiss under his ear lobe, and when Zayn lets out his breath, Niall pushes further in. 

Zayn grunts and Niall stills his hips, but Zayn wraps his arms around Niall and tugs at him "Keep going," he murmurs, and Niall pushes the rest of the way in. It takes him a minute to get used to the feeling, letting himself get used to the stretch of being filled with Niall. Niall is completely still above him, moving only to kiss a trail over to Zayn's lips, pressing chaste closed mouth kisses to the corner of his mouth. When he feels like he's ready, he wraps his legs around Niall's waist, enjoying the slight burn the action causes. "Move." He says, and Niall does. He works up a rythm that has Zayn rolling his hips in tandem with Niall's thrusts, they're both moaning and Niall is panting into his mouth. Niall is incredibly sexy like this, cheeks flushed, mouth open slightly, eyes locked on Zayn's. Niall reaches down to begin stroking Zayn in time with his thrusts, and it's not long before Zayn comes, moaning Niall's name and clenching around him. Niall comes shortly after, face buried in Zayn's neck, a mantra of Zayn's name rolling off his tongue. Niall collapses on top of Zayn and they lay there wrapped up in each other until they both start to feel sticky and uncomfortable. Niall pulls out of Zayn and takes the condom off, tying it closed and tossing it in his trash can. As much as Zayn would like to stay in bed with Niall all day, he knows he has responsibilities he has to get home to. So he suggests they shower and Niall agrees. And when Zayn says he thinks he's too tired to move, Niall picks him up and throws him over his shoulder and they laugh all the way to the bathroom, Zayn slapping Niall's ass playfully, demanding to be put down.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Niall's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your lovely comments, and thank you for your patience! I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update, I'm hoping to start updating more regularly now.

After Zayn had left to get back home to Farrah, Niall made his way into the kitchen where Harry and Louis were sitting at the table. They both turned in his direction as he walked in, Louis with a wicked grin and Harry with a smirk. 

"So," Louis started, grin still in tact, "hot neighbor is loud in bed."

"Shut it, Tomlinson," Niall responded, attempting a scowl which quickly turned into a self-satisfied smile.

"I'm beginning to think I'm dating the wrong roommate," Harry said, "It sounds like you're excellent in bed, Nialler."

"Watch it Styles, or you won't be getting any today."

Niall watched as Harry pouted at Louis, and shook his head at his friends. "You two are ridiculous."

"And apparently you're some sort of sex god," Louis teased. "Was it as good for you as it was for him?"

"I'm so not talking about this with you." Niall answered.

"But Niall, as your best friends, it's our job to make sure your boyfriend satisfies." Harry said.

Niall crossed his arms and leaned back against the counter. "Pretty sure that's my job."

Louis looked from Niall to Harry and then back at Niall. "To make sure your boyfriend satisfies?"

"Umm, yes?"

Suddenly Louis was looking far too mischievous for Niall's liking. "Hey Niall?"

"Yes Louis?"

"Have you got a boyfriend?" 

"I--"

"Oh my god, he does!" Harry exclaimed. "You so do! You didn't correct either of us. Niall has a boyfriend! Niall and Zayn are boyfriends!"

"Awwww, Harry, our little Niall is growing up."

"You guys are the worst, I'm leaving."

"Nooo," Harry whined, getting up and making is way over to Niall, draping an arm around his shoulders. "Tell us all about it. Since when are you two a thing?"

"Since this morning. It wasn't a big thing, really. Just seemed right, you know? I really like him, Farrah too." 

"Well, I'm happy for you then, he seems like a cool guy." Harry said, giving Niall's shoulders a squeeze. 

Louis nodded. "Me too, but if he hurts you, I hurt him."

"Louis." 

"I'm serious, Niall."

And Niall rolled his eyes fondly. Louis wasn't always outwardly affectionate like Harry but he had his own ways of showing he cared, and Niall appreciated it. Louis had been one of his best friends since he was sixteen and his friendship meant a lot to him. 

**********

Later that night Niall got a text from Zayn inviting him over and Niall headed next door immediately, feeling giddy at the prospect of seeing Zayn again. Niall knocked on Zayn's front door and when Zayn answered it, Niall surged forward placing his hands on Zayn's hips and leaning in to kiss him. Niall could feel Zayn smiling into the kiss and he pulled back allowing Zayn to shut the door behind them.

"Hey." Niall said, leaning forward once again to place a short peck to Zayn's lips. 

"Hi." Zayn answered, wrapping his arms around Niall's neck, eyes crinkling up at the corners. "Come on," he took one of Niall's hands and lead him over to the couch. "Want my boyfriend to cuddle me." At Zayn's words, Niall felt himself grinning stupidly, and Zayn turned to look at Niall, matching grin on his face. 

"God, I feel like a teenager." Niall said, plopping down on the couch and pulling Zayn down on top of him. Zayn let out a grunt and wriggled around on Niall's lap, getting comfortable. "I just want to spend all my time talking to you and being with you and kissing you and touching you. I haven't felt like this in years." 

Zayn nuzzled his face into Niall's neck and pulled his tank top aside, kissing his collarbone softly. "Lucky for me, there's nothing stopping you." Zayn responded and Niall brushed his fingers through his hair. "We should talk though." 

"About?"

"Farrah."

Niall hummed and ran his hand down Zayn's arm, linking their fingers together. "Okay... what about her?" Zayn bit his lip and Niall gave his hand a squeeze, he seemed nervous.

"Just... just about telling her about us. If I should or not." Zayn sat up then and turned to face Niall. "She really likes you, I let you into her life without really considering what it would mean. What it would mean if you stayed, or if you left."

"Zayn..." 

"I know. You're not planning on leaving, right? Nobody starts out a relationship with a plan to leave. But it could happen. And if something happens, it's not just me I have to think about, it's Farrah too."

Zayn was wringing his hands nervously in his lap, eyes downcast. Niall reached out and tugged both of his hands into his own lap and Zayn raised his eyes to meet Niall's. 

"You're right, Zayn. This could end next week, ten years from now, or Notebook style. I can't promise you it won't end, but I can promise you that if it does I won't just walk out of Farrah's life, unless you ask me to." 

"Niall... we've barely known each other a month. I can't ask that of you."

"You don't have to ask, I'm offering. I want this with you. And Farrah too. I want to be a part of your lives. Both of your lives." 

Zayn looked into Niall's eyes before nodding once and switching positions to cuddle back into Niall. Niall wrapped his arms around Zayn, and Zayn rested his head on Niall's shoulder. "Okay," he said, "I'll tell her tomorrow. And if she seems okay with it, we'll take you out. On a date."

Relief washed over Niall as he accepted Zayn's invitation. He knew dating a man with a child wasn't going to be simple, knew there would be hurdles they'd have to cross, but he was ready for them. He cared about Zayn, he cared about Farrah, and he was willing to try his best to keep the three of them happy, as long as Zayn was willing as well. And he had no doubt in his mind that Zayn was.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zayn's POV

Zayn stood in the kitchen making lunch for himself and Farrah, phone pressed between his ear and shoulder. "Sooo," he started, spreading peanut butter onto a slice of whole grain bread, "Niall and I..."

"Hooked up?" Liam asked. Zayn could almost hear him wiggling his eyebrows over the phone, he rolled his eyes. 

"Well, yes. We did" he was briefly interrupted by a celebratory sound from Liam, he wiped off his knife and started on the jelly, grinning despite himself. "But also, we're kinda dating, so."

"What? Really?" Liam sounded genuinely surprised, but not unhappy.

"Yeah."

"Zayn, that's great!" For some reason Zayn was relieved by Liam's enthusiasm, there was a part of him that was still feeling a little strange, almost guilty, for having a boyfriend. He knew the feeling would fade and was doing his best to ignore it, but it still felt good to have someone he cared about accept his decision. 

"It kinda is," he answered, cutting the crust off of Farrah's sandwich. "I'm really happy." And he was. Not that he hadn't been happy before, but it had been a long time since he had felt completely present and whole. Previous to meeting Niall he had felt like he was sort of living in a haze, going through the motions. Surviving day to day but not really living. But now, he felt awake, he felt good, and he knew Niall was a big part of that. 

"Listen Li, I gotta go. It's lunch time and I'm telling Farrah about Niall and I today, we want to make sure shes okay with everything before we start hanging out around her." 

"Okay. Text me how it goes, yeah?"

"Sure. Bye Liam."

Once he had hung up with Liam, Zayn got his and Farrah's lunches on plates and set them on the table before heading into the living room where Farah was drawing what appeared to be a picture of a dragon driving a car. 

"Hey beti, you ready for lunch?" Immediately she threw down her crayon and jumped up. She was always eager for meal times, and for that he was thankful.

"Yes! My tummy's grumbly." Zayn smiled and followed her into the kitchen, he lifted her up to wash her hands, washed his own hands, and then the two sat down at the table together.

"Farrah Hanan, there's something important Baba would like to talk to you about, is that okay?"

"Sure Baba," she answered, swinging her feet back and forth as she picked up half of her sandwich and started nibbling at it, looking up at him expectantly.

Zayn took a second to sort his thoughts. He knew Farrah was quite fond of Niall and he didn't think she'd have a problem with them dating, but he felt nervous about discussing this with her anyways. Farrah had been too young when Akilah had died to really remember her mother, but Zayn made sure to talk about her with Farrah regularly so she wouldn't forget the wonderful woman she had come from. He never wanted Farrah to feel like he was trying to replace Akilah in any way. "Do you like Niall?" he asked, deciding to start with something simple. 

Farrah nodded, "Uh-huh. He gave me a hat and took us to the zoo and he plays catch with me. We're friends."

"I like him too." Zayn said after finishing a bite of his sandwich. "But in a different way. Niall and I like each other like how Uncle Liam and Sophia like each other." 

Zayn watched as a thoughtful expression crossed Farrah's features, forehead crinkling slightly. "Is Niall your boyfriend?"

"He is, if that's okay with you."

"Do you think he's cute? Sophia says Uncle Liam is cute, she told me." 

He chuckled a little, he couldn't believe he was talking to his four year old daughter about boys. "I think he's very cute." 

"Does he think you're cute?"

"I dunno, I hope so." 

"Are you gonna kiss him? I think boyfriends kiss." 

"You're right, they do if they want to. I think Niall and I will kiss sometimes. Do you think that would be okay."

Farrah nodded, licking jelly off her thumb. "Niall makes you smile, Baba, I like it when you smile." Zayn would never love another human as much as he loved his daughter, he was certain. He reached forward and wiped a glob of peanut butter from the corner of her mouth. 

"But you make me smile the most, Beti," he said, and she smiled wide.

"Can I go play with my toys now? I wanna play superheroes."

"Put your plate in the sink and I'll be right in when I'm done cleaning up." Farrah dropped her plate into the sink and rushed off, he'd probably find her later in her Thor cape, crushing lego cities with the hulk hands Liam had bought her the previous Christmas. Sometimes he wondered if she liked superheroes more than he did. He hadn't started reading comics until at least middle school and she was already requesting them as bed time stories. 

Finishing off his sandwich in one hand, he pulled his phone out with the other and opened up his text conversation with Niall. He knew he'd be at work and probably wouldn't respond, but he wanted to text him anyways. He already had a "Miss youuu" text from him, probably sent during his break, so he began typing out a response. 

Z: Miss you too :*  
Z: I told Farrah about us, she seems okay with it.  
Z: She wanted to know if I thought you were cute, I said yes. ;)  
Z: Come over after work?

Done eating, he rinsed his plate in the sink and put his along with Farrah's in the dishwasher and took a second to send a text to Liam.

Z: I told Farrah, she seemed okay with it.  
L: Good!  
Z: She asked if I thought Niall was cute because Sophia thinks you're cute :p  
L: lol shut it Malik  
Z :D

When Niall finally got there, Zayn and Farrah had moved outside and Zayn was sitting on the porch steps sketching as Farrah ran around the yard punching the air yelling "Hulk smash!" Farrah ran to meet Niall halfway up the path to the porch and stopped in front of him. "Hello Miss Farrah," he said, crouching down in front of her. "How are you today?"

"I'm Hulk!" she answered, waving the big green fists at Niall. 

He laughed. "I can see that." 

"Baba says your his boyfriend." 

Zayn watched as Niall glanced at him, smiling. He couldn't help but smile back. Niall nodded, "I am." 

"And he says you're cute, just like Sophia says Uncle Liam is cute. Do you think Baba is cute? He said he didn't know." 

Zayn could feel himself blushing a bit as Niall gave him another brief look, the tips of his ears going warm. Why must children be so direct?

"I think your Baba is beautiful." Niall said, looking not at Farrah but at Zayn, eyes meeting across the lawn. And if Zayn's cheeks weren't tinged red before, they definitely were now. And he felt like his heart was fluttering in his chest. He bit his lip and shook his head, and Niall grinned at him before turning his attention back to Farrah. 

The three of them spent the rest of the afternoon together, and ate dinner before Niall went home to say hi to Harry and Louis and change out of his work clothes while Zayn bathed Farrah, and put her to bed after reading her three bed time stories and half a Captain Marvel comic. By the time she was asleep, Zayn went downstairs to find Niall sitting on his couch, flipping through channels on his TV. 

"C'mon." Zayn said from the foot of the stairs, causing Niall to turn his head to look at him. "Turn the TV off, we're going upstairs." 

"Don't have to ask me twice." When Niall did as Zayn requested and met him at the bottom of the stairs, he wrapped his arms around Zayn's neck and leaned into his body, tilting his head forward to kiss him. They had only been kissing for a few seconds before Zayn pulled away, took Niall's hand and began leading him up the staircase. 

"C'mooon." He was a little tired, a lot horny, and he really really wanted to touch his boyfriend. And although he was always an enthusiastic participant in their sexual activities, he knew he had never really been this eager in front of Niall before and he had the feeling the other man found his sudden eagerness amusing. He got his confirmation in the form of Niall bursting into laughter once Zayn had shut and locked his bedroom door, and nearly thrown Niall down onto the bed. Zayn looked down at him and pouted. "This is supposed to be sexy, Niall. You're not supposed to be laughing."

"Oh, right." Zayn watched as Niall struggled to keep his face straight. "You just tripped trying to throw me onto your bed." And, okay. Maybe Zayn had tripped over a stray shoe a little bit. "And now you're pouting about it. Cute you've managed. Sexy? Not quite." 

"Earlier you said I was beautiful." 

Niall opened his arms, and Zayn climbed onto the bed and settled on top of him. "And I meant it, you're stunning. And when you're naked in my bed, screaming my name, you're sexy. But right now, you're cute."

"Well," he said, turning his head to place a kiss under Niall's ear. There won't be any screaming tonight, but I'd be glad to take my clothes off for you." To punctuate his statement, he rolled his hips down against Niall's before sitting up. 

"That makes it sound like you're going to strip," Niall said, running his hands up the inside of Zayn's thighs. 

"Maybe I am." Niall raised his eyebrows and propped himself up on his elbows, Zayn rolled his hips down again and they both groaned. Slowly, while remaining eye contact with Niall, Zayn began to pull his shirt up his body. Just shy of taking it off, Zayn let it fall back down, he licked his lips and took hold of his shirt once more, this time tugging it off. He bit his lip and ran a hand through his hair.

Niall smirked and shook his head. "Alright, calm down Channing Tatum, you're sexy." 

It was Zayn's turn to raise an eyebrow, hands inching their way under Niall's shirt, fingertips brushing over his stomach. "Are you referencing Magic Mike?" 

"Maybe." Zayn continued pushing at Niall's shirt, and together they pulled it off. Immediately Zayn ran his hands down Niall's chest, stopping to slip his fingers under the waistband of his shorts. Niall was so attractive like this. His bleach blonde hair sticking up at odd angles, pupils blown wide and dark in his pale blue eyes, and a smattering of hair covering his pale chest. 

"Want you." Zayn muttered, leaning forward to capture Niall's lips with his own, instantly flicking his tongue out to swipe over Niall's lips before pushing it into his mouth which had opened easily. 

Niall ran his hands down Zayn's sides, sliding his hands down the back of his pants, squeezing and pressing Zayn down against him. "You've got me." Niall said, and Zayn could feel him grin into their kiss. 

"Cheesy." Zayn said, suppressing a moan as Niall rolled his hips up against Zayn's. It wasn't long before they were both stripped down to nothing, and Zayn had his mouth on Niall, licking up the underside of his dick. He sucked the tip into his mouth and Niall bucked his hips. Zayn held them down with one hand pressed against his stomach before taking Niall's length completely into his mouth, head hitting the back of his throat.

Niall hissed, "Fuck, Zayn." Zayn started bobbing his head, pulling off slightly to swirl his tongue around Niall's tip before going back down, Niall moaning quietly above him, fingers threaded through Zayn's hair. "You're really--" he started, cutting off his own sentence to let out a little "ahh" as once again his head hit the back of Zayn's throat. "Really--ah--good at this." He moaned again, and then "Fuck." 

Niall's praised, mixed with the sounds he was making had Zayn's dick hard and leaking. As he continued working Niall over with his mouth, he snaked his free hand down between his own legs and started getting himself off, occasionally moaning around Niall's dick which had Niall tugging harder at Zayn's hair, fingernails scratching over his scalp. "I'm gonna--" was the only warning Zayn got as Niall came down Zayn's throat. He closed his eyes, nearly choking before he swallowed, pulling of Niall who reached out to wipe a thumb over Zayn's bottom lip and chin, effectively cleaning him off. "C'mere" he said, pulling Zayn up, there bare skin rubbing together as Niall got them into a position where he could easily knock Zayn's hand out of the way and wrap his own fingers around Zayn's dick instead. And Zayn was so close that it only take a few strokes, and flicks of Niall's wrists before he was spilling over Niall's hand and onto his skin. They lay there for a few moments, catching their breath until Niall was tapping Zayn's hip, prompting him to roll over so he could get up and go into the bathroom, coming back with a wet cloth to clean both of them off. 

"I need a cuddle." Zayn said, pouting over at Niall who had sat down on the edge of the bed. 

"Alright" Niall laid back down and wrapped his arms around Zayn who turned and pressed his back up against Niall so they were spooning. "But not for too long, if I have to get home."

Zayn whined and pulled Niall's arm tighter around him. "Stay." He requested, only a little nervous. Only a little afraid that this was too much too fast. Barely caring because it felt so right. 

"Really?" 

"Really." 

Niall pressed his face into the back of Zayn's neck and kissed him gently three times. They exchanged good nights and then the two fell asleep, legs tangled together, Zayn wrapped up in Niall's arms.


End file.
